Running With Double D's

Make It a Venti

2012-01-11T14:39:00.000-05:00

Twenty years ago today I became a member of the Tribe called Burris. What a wild freaking ride it has been. For anyone who has been married for more than twenty minutes knows that the work of marriage is real work. Not 'as seen on TV work' but legit gritty efforts. So it is with soul that today I shout Cheers! to my husband and myself, and to our family, for this is a team effort. This family is my very greatest earthly treasure and the work I am most proud of. Nothing will ever make it not so.

Came home from playing volleyball one night and said; "Do you want to get married or what?"

Just like that too.

An offer I couldn't refuse. Three boys and a wood paneled mini-van? Where do I sign up!

After Brian and I had been married for 10+ years, his dad said to me; "We always liked you, we just didn't know how you would handle the boys but it all worked out just fine". And by God's grace it has all worked out. We have not grown without some pain and frustration but we have grown nonetheless and I find myself now blessed by the friendship and wisdom of these men who once were boys.

January 11, 1992 We planned our wedding in a mere six weeks. Only two people were brave enough to ask if I was pregnant. (One being my mother). Alas, I wasn't, just in a hurry. It was winter break after all and classes started again on January14th. Brian and I decided we would go with the "50 year trial marriage". Not rush into anything and just see how it all works out. Fifty years should be plenty of time to see if we want to keep going.

21 years old. What did I know? My maid of honor and I made all the food for the reception - just not enough. Who knew there were charts that explain how much food to make for large groups of people? And because maid of honor read cookbooks for leisure we had a really eclectic menu. Weird stuff. Hopefully there were peanuts at the bar.

I was born with a bossy spoon in my mouth.

Every day is a good day.

Circa ~ 1997 We've got a little college going on here, a little high school, also some thumb sucking and diaper filling. We've got it all.

Same pose, same folks 13 years later. Love, love, love....is all around.

Not pictured are two daughters-in-law (who are AWESOME) and five grand babies (also awesome). The wheel of love keeps getting bigger.

Darling Brian, if you are reading this, please know that this is your anniversary card. I kept thinking I would make a card, a really pretty one but alas time marches on and then it vanishes so I made this instead. I am grateful for our rich history and that we've come this far. I am grateful for the opportunities to grow that this family has afforded me. I look forward to the future, to the next leg of the journey and hopefully.....someday.....to Tahiti. For Realz.

Truly I do say... Happy Anniversary and I also say.....We Are Awesome! and also I say....

30 years to go!

The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep running.

~ Author unknown, reference Ecclesiastes 9:11

2011 in Books

2012-01-04T10:22:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!!

I was lucky enough to spend a good amount of time reading ~~this~~ last year. I started 34 books, quit two with no plans to return and am still reading two. So that is thirty books finished - which is not a ton (especially compared to a certain someone who finished 75 books this year!) but it is plenty and means that I was occasionally lounging as opposed to digging a ditch or foraging for food. This means I am a blessed woman!

Here they are ~

1. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
This book found me in love with Atticus Finch and Harper Lee whose writing is intensely wonderful.

2. Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel
Scattered gems amongst heaps of narcissistic garbage.

3. Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum
WWII story, interesting angle, gratuitous. Not recommended.

4. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Not as fabulous as I had hoped. Love Miss Angelou though. A wise sage.

5. Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell
Excellent work on Christian faith. Refreshing. Affirming.

6. The Whistling Season by Ivan Doig
Solid literary work. Glad to have read it. Would read more by this author.

7. Lit (memoir) by Mary Karr
Enlightening. Somewhat Anne Lamott-esque but not quite.

8. At Home by Bill Bryson
Ill chosen chapter titles. Lots of interesting info. Tons. Ending becomes Bryson's pulpit. No thanks.

9. A Visit from the Good Squad by Jennifer Egan
Different. Interesting. Liked it.

10. Imperfect Birds by Anne Lamott
Imperfect book - appreciate her non-fiction much better. Although, did secure a great quote from this book, "you cannot worry yourself into serenity". I know that's right!

11. Bucolic Plague by Josh Kilmer-Purcell
A memoir about two Mannhattanites becoming gentleman farmers. Well done.

12. The Irresistable Henry House by Lisa Grunwald
Based on true events. Good read.

13. East of Eden by John Steinbeck
EPIC. Worth the time and energy. A gold mine of good writing and good thinking.

14. Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner
Quick - which is safer; swimming pool or gun? Think again.

15. The Master Butchers Singing Club by Louise Erdrich
Decent book. Picked for cover.

16. Bossypants by Tina Fey
Exceeded expectations. Hearty with thoughts, laughter and wry observations.

17. Room: A Novel by Emma Donoghue
Unique setting, idea, execution. Very good read.

18. Commencement by J. Courtney Sullivan
Hours I will never get back.

19. The New Yorkers by Cathleen Schine
Light and easy but worthy.

20. Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan
L o n g winded. Good info. Be interested in topics if reading. Really interested.

21. Cry of the Sloth by Sam Savage
Completely written in the form of letters by a broken man becoming more broken. By the minute.

22. Leaving the World by Douglas Kennedy
Would choose this author again for plane rides, doctor appts etc. Not deep but interesting and keeps you reading.

23. Nice Girls Don't Change the World by Lynne Hybels
Simply awesome.

24. Don't Get Too Comfortable by David Rakoff
Like him more on the radio than in print. Good effort though.

25. When you are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
Just what I needed. I love you David! I wish you were my brother.

26. Charms for an Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons
Good read.

27. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz-Zafon
Best book I read this year. Tight and twisty plot, characters and charm abound. Highly recommend.

28. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Well done.

29. Born to Run by Chris McDougall
Mind opening, intriguing, engaging. Worth a look.

30. Jacob T. Marley by William Bennett
Not so much. Weak.

http://vintagepretties.typepad.com/vintage_pretties/2011/05/blinded-by-library-science.html

Reading, at the same time a cocoon and an entrance to the world. It would be impossible to quantify the dreams, ideologies, philosophies and feelings I have developed which would be directly linked to words read. Grateful to have this luxury.

2012-01-02T18:09:00.000-05:00

Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian

My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Thumbnail: Family tragedy at Summer home. Followed by painfully slow reconcilliation. Good start - poor middle and end. Why did I keep going? This box of chocolates was a bummer.
My impression is that Mr. Bohjalian (who is an esteemed author) perused the news for hot button topics (animal rights, hunting) and then wrote a book about them. Am not a fan of this formula and rarely see it manifest as a good book. To add insult to injury, near the end of the book a triathlon is held. Mr. Bohjalian describes the triathlon with the bike portion coming first followed by the swim then run. Heresy! Poorly researched (obviously) weak plot and shallow characters. Not recommended.

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A Christmas Story

2011-12-27T18:45:00.000-05:00

A couple years ago I entered a Real Simple writing contest (which I did not win, alas....). The assignment of this contest was "How did you know that you were a woman?" - I wrote a story about my Grandma and me and Christmas. I keep messing with it and thinking about posting it around Christmas time, which is now. So...here it is:

A Story about my Grandma and Christmas and no longer being a child.

PS: A mighty, mighty thank you to my editor Anita - who gave me lots of help making this pretty.

Dinner is No More

2011-12-19T22:39:00.001-05:00

We are in absolute full swing of the Christmas season up in here! And it is awesome! We have enjoyed live Christmas music and the Nutcracker Suite. Sweet! We have made stuff and baked stuff and gone to nice parties. Sparkly things have been worn, more than once! (this is reason to rejoice for me). The season has been sweet. It snuck up for sure but by God's grace (sincerely) we have been able to dig in and just enjoy it. I am so grateful for this - I cannot fully express it.

But that is not what this post is about. This post is about dinner and how it is......no more.

For two (three?) weeks we have been fully partaking in the activities as mentioned with the down side being that......I have not made a real dinner in weeks. Literally. Generally I make out a monthly menu (don't hate me, my friend Ann does it too). This is a huge help for the "what's for dinner" gremlin of life. December's menu was all made Every day filled in with a potential dinner. Hearty fair and wholesome fixins.

http://whowerethey.wordpress.com/

Now when I look at it I laugh. A hearty visceral laugh. Ha! When my kids ask "what's for dinner" I reply; "Whatever you can find". So while some Christmas things are rocking along, the more mundane things of life have completely gone to the dogs. Completely. And it is okay but it feels good to just write it and put it out there and let it go.

Bye bye dinner. See you next year.

Blissful Ignorance

2011-12-13T13:54:00.000-05:00

This morning before my sweet baby girl left for school she made an interesting proclamation. She said to me, "I want to be you. I want to sit in front of the Christmas tree all cozy and read a book. I want to drink a cup of coffee."

Mmm....hmmmm..... that does sound good. I would like to be me too.

What she saw: Mom (me) sitting in front of the lit tree. Cozy in robe and scrunchy socks. With a cup of tea and a book.

What she did not know: Mom (me) was up at 5:30am (ghastly) because I could not sleep. Christmas is in full swing, the most wonderful time of the year, and requires a lot of thinking and planning. I had been sitting there for awhile getting my head together. I was in my robe and cozy socks because, being worried about the winter gas bill, I programmed the thermostat to drop down to 60 over night. Getting up so early was a chilly proposition. The 'book' I was reading was my Bible study which I have been struggling to complete each week. It is a great program but rigorous and I had been pondering the possibility of dropping out. Getting up so early gave me the time I needed to finish it. (Ironically - the focus of this week's lesson? Resting in God. Hmm... )

So yes Piper - it is good to be me. It really is. Even when it is not exactly how it looks.

2011-12-11T22:21:00.005-05:00

Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was recommended to me over two years ago but I wasn't interested because I thought, (like many) "it's just that barefoot running book". It is so much more than a 'barefoot running book'! This is truly three books in one. It is a book about an ancient Indian people, a book about running in general and a book about a specific race which took place in 2006. The thing that most resonated with me from the book is this: every human being was born to run. Physiologically, emotionally, spiritually - we are made to run. We are built for it. I needed to hear this. A great read for anyone even casually interested in running. Full of interesting info but laced with an amazing story. Compelling - hard to put down. So glad I (finally) read it!

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Black (Ops) Friday

2011-11-25T21:19:00.000-05:00

Jason Bourne and Dwight Schrute have a baby.

His name is Ty, a Pennsylvania resident who spent Black Friday teaching the Burris Crew how to shoot guns. With real ammo.

Indeed, while many of my brethren were getting a leg up on Christmas shopping we were in rural American learning the difference between pistols and shotguns, pellets and slugs and gaining an enormous appreciation for the craft of shooting.

Ty is a colleague of Brian's and an avid shooter/hunter/home protection specialist. Ty takes this stuff seriously. Seriously. Serious. He began our tutorial with gun safety and he was not messing around. At. All. He pointed out his PFAK. "Personal First Aid Kit" - and then said to me; "You're a nurse. It has a tourniquet, hemostabilizing agents and an oro-pharyngeal airway, in case anyone gets shot". My eyes, now the size of dinner plates, peruse the kit. Okay, yeah I'm cool with that. Dear Lord, please don't let anyone get shot here today.

We move on to proper hand position, body position and just how far away you can be and still "incapacitate an intruder." There was a lot of talk about incapacitation. It was so interesting to me to learn the mechanisms of taking down a human being as they are the exact opposite goals of my work each and every day. Easy to understand though because I took everything I know and thought about it backwards. Weird.

Brian hitting the mark. Literally.

It's a big deal shooting a gun. It wasn't fun but it was interesting. It was much easier to hold the pistol but the shotgun has more "incapacitating" potential and also does not require as accurate of an aim. This is nothing to mess around with. Is the potential safety impact worth the risk of having a gun in the house? (Even though Freakonomics claims that a home swimming pool is technically more dangerous than a gun). It was a lot to take in. I am grateful that Ty took the time to share all that he has learned including his great heed of safety, on many levels. Still. Will Santa leave a little something-something under the tree this year? Not sure.

Connor. Subtle but deadly. In a very vegetarian hipster way.

I will end with this. We were all good shots. Even my vision challenged husband and my fourteen year old daughter. This gave me an oddly proud feeling. Don't mess with ~~Texas~~ Burris!

Ty - plan to never be opposite this man.

Oh, and this. Last year at Brian's work Christmas party I gave Ty eight kinds of grief for being kind of turd about something or another. I will NEVER give Ty any kind of grief. He is a certified BADASS. And I will save my grief giving for.......State Troopers and my parole officer. But never Ty. Ever.

Questions and Answers

2011-11-10T13:52:00.001-05:00

QUESTIONS:

To my darling, beautiful (inside and out), talented, polite, helpful and kind children. To you, whom have been blessed with intelligence and... great parents. How is it that your bathroom resembles a bathroom from Trainspotting?

Does the dog shower with you? Who has been using their toothbrush to polish Daddy's shoes? Why is the sink that color? Who needs new glasses? Can you not see how dirty your bathroom is? Are you waiting for me to clean it, thinking I might be offended that you take over one of my most favorite domestic jobs? How sweet.

ANSWERS:

YES Yes it it okay to clean the bathroom whenever it needs it, even if Mommy is not home. Yes it is okay to use any and all cleaning products present in the house to give your bathroom a sparkle. Yes it is okay to throw away empty shampoo bottles, rusty razors and that bottle of Old Spice Swagger we gave Connor for Christmas last year. Yes, yes, yes. I will not be offended. Really.

Because what I need right now....

2011-11-07T08:19:00.000-05:00

is another reason to troll the internets! Thank you Ann for introducing me to this new form of crack cocaine: Pinterest.

Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board collection created by you via 'pinning' items that you find while out and about in the ethersphere. Cute skirt? Pin it. Awesome art project? Pin it. Recipe for happiness? Pin it. Anita - this is a site you might love - I think you already do this in your own way. Origamiliving.blogspot.com wrote a good synopsis of this new adventure. Origamiliving is also where I found the image above.

I have managed to amass about 6 boards so far - it is fun and akin to making a scrapbook from magazine clippings except without glue and scissors. Other folks can 'follow' your boards and you can follow theirs. I have heard (Sarah!) that one can make an entire week's menu from recipes culled from these boards. Nothing wrong with that.

Disclaimer; rock star of the Bible, Paul encourages us to NOT be a stumbling block for others, to not lead others astray. Please use Pinterest responsibly! Do not Pinterest and drive! Do not let your laundry pile up or your husband go hungry while pinning your hopes and dreams to a board. And if any of these things do happen, please delete my website from your history. Thanks.

2011-11-02T22:10:00.000-04:00

Charms for the Easy Life by Kaye Gibbons
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A sweet read about three generations of women who live and love together. Charms is a good story that moves along. It is set in the 1940s with WWII and rural life providing the back drop. The premise of the 'charm' literally being for an easy life is weakly supported but that does not detract from the charm of this book.(har har) The characters are pretty two dimensional but this too is forgivable. I find myself thinking about the characters now, days after finishing the book - always a good sign.

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My Husband is Awesome

2011-10-31T22:28:00.000-04:00

It is Sunday morning and I am trying to get myself dressed and primped to go head-to-head with a couple dozen junior high students at church. I usually try to wear something ever so slightly sparkly in an effort to keep their attention. I believe this is similar to fishing, shiny bait? Not sure but it works. (Well that and my dynamic teaching style which involves lots of dramatic gesturing and getting the kids to do all the teaching. What? ) So I have a nice yet somewhat Real Housewives of New Jersey top on (but not skanky) and am trying to get the right jeans to go with. I end up in (what I consider) my skinny jeans. But I think twice about this because I am en route to church with the beautiful opportunity to share stuff with a group of young people. I do not want to look ridiculous, like I am trying too hard, ridiculous, like I don't have a full length mirror or ridiculous. So I ask my husband (who is actually, temporarily, partially blind right now but that is a different post) if my jeans are too tight. "Nah" he replies, "you can get away with it." Hmm......what does this mean? So I ask, "I can get away with it? Do you mean because I'm old?" and he says........"Yeah."

Full disclosure: my awesome husband followed up this statement by saying "Wait! Wait! Let's do this again! That's not what I meant!" and I said, "No way. This is going to be a blog post".

Post Secret Funny This Week

2011-10-30T12:36:00.000-04:00

This "secret" made me laugh because I love when this happens to me at Target. "Happens to me" is a questionable fact as it truly just happens, but still. I don't do the runway thing like the above secret teller, I just think it's sweet when the lights come on when I walk past. Someone, somewhere turning on the light so I can get a better look at the frozen vegetables and mini-cheesecakes. Thank you magic light guys (computer programmers)! You rock!

Postsecret, a Sunday staple. A time to discover that we are not alone. Not even in our weirdest, silliest, saddest ways.

Good Stuff

2011-10-26T22:04:00.001-04:00

Someone posted this on Facebook last week. It was written by Ira Glass - public radio personality and host of This American Life. There are some gems in here. Simple advice groomed with humility. Really love

everything he had to say here.

While it is aimed at, 'all of us who do creative work' I appreciate it as good advice for all pursuits as all pursuits are ultimately creative. Thinking specifically about nursing and how much creativity goes into being a good nurse. How the many years and experiences of being a nurse contribute so greatly to doing good work. But I also love these words for the grace they offer toward the early days of not being very good at something. The first efforts at anything are often so clumsy and far beneath our aspirations. It feels like relief to have these things spoken.

Ira, thanks for being awesome.

I heart you!

Credit for the artistic presentation of this quote goes to Ms. Holly Whitney writer of this blog;

ArtistMotherTeacher

2011-10-24T22:06:00.000-04:00

Don't Get Too Comfortable by David Rakoff
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Heard Rakoff on Fresh Air - loved what he had to say and loved the title of this book. His writing is good and I did like reading this pieces. It felt like he had not quite found a sweet spot. Most of these stories were written after he had arranged the situations about which he then wrote. Examples: to intern at Martha Stewart, tour a cryogenics facility, have a 'fake job' at a resort. All good fodder but contrived, but on purpose and not in secret....so I guess that is okay? Good work not awesome, worth keeping an eye on. He has another book; Half Empty that I will definitely read.

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World Series and the Logic of a Cubs Fan

2011-10-21T09:18:00.000-04:00

It is that time again - World Series time - the Fall Classic. My husband is a die-hard Cubs fan. It is true that the Cubs are not playing in the World Series this year. 2011 welcomed the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals to the party. A glimpse at the kind of thinking it takes to be a real Cubs fan; According to Brian Burris we must now cheer for the Cardinals because the Cardinals are in the National League. The Cubs are in the National League. If the Cardinals win the Series it means the National League is the best league. This will mean the Cubs are in the best league. And through a series of magical thinking maneuvers this will mean that the Cubs are the best!

Husbands with Benefits

2011-08-19T23:05:00.000-04:00

There are a TON of benefits to having a husband who is AARP eligible. A ton. Becoming a Grandma at 35 and understanding the intimate details of glaucoma surgery are two big ones but there are many more. Having a husband who was graduating from college when I was going to kindergarten means peace of mind. Here's how:

When I watch the news and get riled about the debt ceiling (as if I knew what this was) my husband says; "Honey, every president since Grover Cleaveland has raised the debt ceiling. It's just what they do".
Sigh of relief.

When global warming fills me with dread my betrothed says: "Babe, when I was in college every scientist on the planet was predicting the next ice age. Now global warming? They don't know what they are talking about."
Because my husband is a real-life scientist, I go ahead and breathe another sigh of relief.

News about pollution, air and water quality get me fretting and he tells me "Look , when I was a kid rivers spontaneously started on fire! We've got it made now."
Hmm...good point. Yet another sigh.

Got worries? Marry an old guy.

2011-08-02T21:46:00.000-04:00

This is an excerpt from a real-life conversation that I experienced just today.
In my very own kitchen.

(My lovely 14 year old daughter is speaking)

"Mom! We've never had a Mom who doesn't care about us. Okay? So you caring about us just seems annoying. You caring about us seems like you just want to butt into all of our personal business. Okay?"

(At this precise moment I am not feeling like Mother-of-the-year so instead of being compassionate I choose to quote one of my favorite movies, Little Miss Sunshine)

"Really? Wow, Piper. Thank you. How much do I owe you for those pearls of wisdom?"

(And my daughter being my daughter gives it right back)

"Oh, those are on the house."

Somewhere in there is a compliment. It is hard to see but it's there. And these days, I'll take a compliment from my offspring any freaking way I can get one.

Hey Brooding Youth,

2011-06-17T16:09:00.000-04:00

You make me smile. I see you sitting outside of Michaels, smoking cigarettes with your cut-off corduroy pants that make you look a little pirate-esque. This only adds to your allure. I see you all scruffy from not shaving and all pissed off from not being free. You make me smile. I feel a cool breeze of possibility every time I see you. The per cubic inch measure of dreams will never exist inside you to a greater degree than it does today. You make me smile. I used to be like you. Now I'm a Mom out shopping for craft supplies to take on a church mission trip. It's been a sweet journey so far and lots of the same stuff is still inside. So forgive me for my smile. It is not a smirk. It is gratefulness for all that was and is and is to come.

Love Share

2011-06-15T17:15:00.001-04:00

There are several blogs I really, really enjoy reading. I would like to pass them along.

Steve in a Speedo is a triathlete, photographer and all around nice guy from Minnesota (eh?). He writes a lot about training and endurance sport stuff. But he also writes about his family, his wife, life in general. He and his wife just had a baby on Saturday - so sweet!!

I just recently stumbled upon THIS BLOG wherein Mrs. Loerke writes Mr. Loerke and other people little notes. I like her casual exuberance and positive vibe.

On a crafty ~ lovey note; A Beautiful Mess is really fun to read especially if you like vintage clothes and/or sewing in the least little bit.

And for some neighborly fun - this guy Clyde writes a cool blog about bicycling and has branched out into writing about lots of other stuff. He's funny and writes in a way that makes me wish he lived next door.

Did This Ever Happen To You?

2011-06-05T22:07:00.002-04:00

Have you ever been home alone with your husband on a Sunday afternoon because your children were out and about? Did you ever decide to make the most of an empty house? And then when you were in the middle of the happiness that only an empty house can behold did the phone ring? And did your husband answer it because he wasn't wearing his glasses so he could not see the caller ID but he worried that it was one of your children? And then did it turn out to be your MOTHER on the phone?!?!?! Did this every happen to you? And then did your husband whisper to you, "Hey do you want to talk to your Mom?" and did you then say, "Tell her I will call her back.".
Did this ever happen to you?
Yeah, me neither.

I AM STUPID

2011-05-01T20:50:00.000-04:00

Church, coffee, newspaper and Postsecret are my Sunday rituals.

This was one of today's secrets.

I respectfully disagree but it did make me laugh.

Heartily.

Thought provoking?

I'm A Creep

2011-04-13T18:11:00.001-04:00

Short story long (which is always more true than the converse):

Today I am relaxing in front of the TV between domestic shifts. I have Bravo TV on for brain candy and I'm surfing that darn Facebook. In between entering to win a picture signed by Dave Matthews (aaahhhh!!!) and listening to a new (to me) band, I click on a sweet picture of the daughter of a friend who is very pregnant and very cute. There are numerous comments under her picture. One of the commenters is a woman I don't know but have met (like once). I click on her name (why do I do this? just curious? voyeurism? what?) and look at her profile. Is this creepy? I concede that this behavior is technically labeled "creeping" but does that make doing it creepy? There are privacy controls afterall, ones that Ms. Commenter is not currently utilizing. Anyway, creeping on this nice girl lead me to this quote which she had in her profile:

“Out of damp and gloomy days, out of solitude, out of loveless words directed at us, conclusions grow up in us like fungus: one morning they are there, we know not how, and they gaze upon us, morose and gray. Woe to the thinker who is not the gardener but only the soil of the plants that grow in him.” -Nietzsche

I love this and I pass it on with great love and admiration to, and for, the women I know who, daily, are gardeners and refuse (refuse!) to let miserable fungus grow in their hearts.

It is such hard work.

Thank you Facebook creeping for bringing this moment of refreshment today!

How Did This Happen?

2011-03-30T23:25:00.000-04:00

My husband and I are in a dinner club. This entails getting together with three other couples once a month and eating amazing food. This, as Martha Stewart would say, is a good thing. Our dinner club is in the first year of existence and we've had a great year! Each month we choose a theme and focus the menu around a central idea. That sounds way more high maintenance than it actually is - this is a great group of dedicated yet relaxed (dare I say 'normal') food enthusiasts. This month we are doing Greek Easter. The menu making and arrangements usually take place during a few days of emails pinging back and forth. Today was an active day of emailing and deciding what each couple was going to bring. Which is how I came to be writing this post.

How did this happen?!?!?!??!

I sent this email in response to other emails that were going back and forth. This was my two cents:

I can make Baklava.

I love spinach too.

What else do we need ~
What about Saganaki (sp?) some kind of burning cheese situation? and Ouzo (sp?) - can I be in charge of that?

Very shortly after that, I receive this:

Jennifer (that is me) is in charge of Ouzo.

Christine picked Baklava first. Her cheesy version sounds awesome.

Jennifer (me again)- do the flaming cheese thing - Greeks are wild! Do you eat it as an app? First course??

So, it all sounds good. We have 2 apps. Shrimp, feta, orzo from Pam and a flaming cheese from Jennifer.(oh no) Chris and Ralph will do grape leaves to eat with the Lamb. And we have the Baklava for dessert.

Should I do a greek salad? Or should we do spanakopita?

Whoa, whoa, whoa Mama, I don't actually know how to do the flaming cheese thing!

When I said, "can I be in charge of that?" I meant the ouzo because that only requires walking into a liquor store and saying "do you have ouzo?"

I saw the burning cheese thing in Chicago once and then starting telling my kids they were eating saganaki every time I melted cheese on their tortilla chips. Seriously. Fear not (I'm talking to myself now) for there is Google and Google will surely help me learn how to set cheese aflame. And indeed, there is an endless amount of saganaki advice online.

This picture does scare me a bit - that is a lot of fire right there. I hope that when the time comes, I will look as together as this chick.

Opa!

Here is the saganaki post flame. From what I've gathered so far, rectangles of cheese are dredged in flour, browned in olive oil, doused in alcohol and set on fire. Then you are supposed to yell "Opa!". After the flame goes out, the cheese is sprinkled with lemon juice and eaten.

I've got three weeks to perfect my saganaki/flambe technique.

Check back after Easter to see how it went and if I still have eyebrows.

Church!

2011-03-14T18:03:00.000-04:00

Pastor Bo was preaching from the book of Mark today. Focusing on some of the crazy, wonderful things Jesus did while treading upon the earth. One of His craziest moves was hanging out with folks of questionable character - on Sabbath days even!

Jesus was in a club with all the wrong people.

Sinners, tax collectors, prostitutes.........

Sting was preaching this on the ride home ~

I thought these things fit together kind of pretty.

Birthday Hike

2011-03-11T17:20:00.000-05:00

Last year I celebrated my birthday by doing a 17 mile hike in the Grand Canyon. This year I did a 3 mile hike that felt like 17 because I took these two ~

Happy ~~Campers~~ Hikers? Doesn't look like it.

In their defense I did 'make' them come along by shamelessly playing the Mom Card.

What can I say? I really wanted to go and I really wanted them to accompany me.

And guess what? We had fun. Yes we did.

There was a HUGE tree that had fallen over (did it make a sound?).

Connor, with his ever present camera.

So ever present that his jeans have the outline of his camera permanently etched into the front pocket.

Behold, the hover hand.

Wonder Twin Powers - ACTIVATE!

Not having any fun as you can see.

Once we got going, it really was fun. At some point during the hike Piper explained the physics equation that calculates momentum... or was it acceleration? that she had been learning in science. Then Connor joined in and they began speaking a language that I did not understand. Physics, geometry - beyond me. But it was cool to hear about things they had learned and prompted me to send up a big ol' prayer -

Thank You,

Thank You God

for these amazing moments.

In Love

2011-02-10T22:03:00.000-05:00

Occasionally I find myself sneaking extra time for a special someone.

I find myself setting aside chores for more time on the couch.

I spend entirely too much time ruminating on shared conversation and the future of this relationship.

Right this minute ~ I am in Love ~ with Atticus Finch.

What a guy! If I had half of this man's patience, wisdom and compassion.

Oh sure, he isn't a real man ~ he is a novel character.

But still!

One of the coolest things about homeschooling is being cajoled into actually reading all of those books that one "should read". To Kill a Mockingbird came highly recommended and it does not disappoint. I'm not even finished with it but felt confident enough to write this post. Plus, I'm in love! Love has no need for objective reviews. This book is beautiful, being filled equally with hope and heartache. The writing is a parade of sentences crafted in a way that cause little bombs to explode in your head leaving a perfect picture behind. I will be sad when it ends.

To Kill A Mockingbird is to my 2011 what A Tree Grows In Brooklyn was to my 2010. Does that make any sense? Me neither.

The author ~ Harper Lee.

According to the intro in the book - Ms. Lee wrote this book over a four year period and did so after being encouraged to write down the stories that she loved to tell people about her growing up years. I would love to know more about this extraordinary writer.

to be continued...........

A Year in Books

2011-01-09T14:59:00.000-05:00

I was fortunate enough to read 36 books this year ( I started several more but sometimes they didn't stick or I realized that they would best be enjoyed piece-meal. Why am I explaining this? Who cares?)

Here they are in chronological order with my snarky, possibly helpful comments in italics only when appropriate (read: only when something snarky or helpful leapt to mind) ~

The Elegance of the Hedgehog ~ Barberry

The Human Comedy ~ Saroyen

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn ~ Smilth (best book evah! I've said it before, I know)

Day After Night ~ Diamant (needed to be longer)

Open ~ Agassi (very good, glad to have read it)

Broken for You ~ Kallos (airport read, nothing more, nothing less)

Puddin-head Wilson ~ Twain   (excellent)

The Help ~ Stockett   (as good as advertised, will look forward to and probably be disappointed in the movie)

For Kings and Planets ~ Canin

Consider the Lobster ~ Wallace

The Girl with Curious Hair ~ Wallace

Interviews with Hideous Men ~ Wallace (I found myself on a David Foster Wallace kick and thought his essays were interesting in a "10 pounds of potatoes in a 5 pound sack" kind of way but his fiction was not for me. Too twisted, too dark)

The Bean Trees ~ Kingsolver

Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society ~ Shaffer

Out Stealing Horses ~ Petterson

The Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again ~ Wallace (see? I was done after this one)

Sukkwan Island: A Novella from Legend of a Suicide ~ Vann

Blood Thirsty ~ Karp (not a book a would choose to read but I loved it! campy and fabulous it is one of four books)

The Accidental ~ Smith

Water for Elephants ~ Gruen

A Vintage Affair ~ Wolff (fun read!)

The Archivist ~ Cooley

Cold Sassy Tree ~ Burns

The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo ~ Larssen (regret reading this - super twisted - super dark - I am surprised how popular these books are. The original title was "The Man Who Hated Women". It would have been a good title.)

Mrs. Dalloway ~ V.Wolff

A Year In Merde ~ Clarke (the travails of living in France, with the French hee hee)

The Peculiar Sadness of Lemon Cake ~ Bender (meh)

The Jungle ~ Sinclair (socialist propaganda! Oh my gosh! it makes Grapes of Wrath look like a Disney affair! that being said, it did make be think - a lot)

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime ~ Haddon (second time, loved it again)

Mrs. Bridge ~ Connell (finished this book and wondered why)

A Reliable Wife ~ Goolick

Patron Saint of Liars ~ Patchett (hated the protagonist, hated the ending)

Our Father Who Art In A Tree ~ Pascoe (possibly meant to be read while under the influence of something? otherwise I don't really know)

Never Let Me Go ~ Ishiguro

The God of Animals ~ Kyle   (good story, good enough writing)

See You in a Hundred Years ~ Ward (written by someone else, could have been awesome)

Happy reading everyone!

Sunday Times

2011-01-03T20:18:00.000-05:00

Of all the things I read in the paper yesterday - this was the best, most useful thing I came across. It is a solid article about the merits of cooking your own food. You can read it here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/weekinreview/02bittman.html?src=me&ref=general

There are three recipes included, which the author refers to while making his case for home cooking. What I think is fabulous about this piece is that it focuses on the do-able. Bittman breaks the idea of cooking and eating at home into palatable (pardon the pun) bites (and again). He makes it clear that you do not have to graduate from culinary school to put good food on the table.

And that the efforts to get your own food to your own table yield tons of positive results by not yielding tons of extra calories and restaurant debt. Check it out if you're looking for a little home cooking encouragement.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T18:36:00.004-05:00

One - One - Eleven

Looks cooler in numerals eh?

1.1.11

The first day of a new year. There is a brand new calendar sitting on my kitchen table - pristine, blank and ready to be filled with birthdays, appointments, reminders and good fun stuff. It is soooo tempting to start out a new year with resolutions, proclamations and plans. For today I am going to indulge in some rear view thinking instead. Two thousand and ten was a quality year.

Lightning round top ten thoughts about the year that just left the stage;

(one) The best recipe I made this year was this salad ~

Mixed greens, goat cheese (yes), cranberries and pecans. Click above on 'salad' for the recipe.

(two) The best movie I saw this year was The Town with Ben Affleck (that being said, Due Date with Robert Downey Jr. was really, really good and deeper than anticipated)

(three) Best book read by me this year ~ A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith What a read, really beautiful. Worth the time.

(four) I had my first experience with anxiety. Black cloud, fearful of everything, anxiety. And it was horrible because it scared me and lingered most of the summer. It was wonderful because it lead me to friends and family who were willing to endure with me while reminding me that I would be okay. It was awesome because it has given me an empathy that before I did not possess. I suspect that anxiety and I are not through but he is no where in sight today and for that I am thankful.

Google image search for 'anxiety' yielded this result - very accurate in my experience.

(five) Went to THREE Dave Matthews Band shows this year - YAY!!!!!!!!! Each one was a unique experience. I am especially grateful for my husband who is such a good sport and a great adventure companion.

Tailgating is a big part of the experience. We always meet nice people hanging out before the show.

What a guy. What a talent. What a human being.

(six) Physical feat that I am most proud of: hiked 17 miles from the rim of the Grand Canyon down to the bottom/Colorado River and back up to the rim - in one day. I was lucky enough to do this with my best girl Melissa. She is a rock. Melissa has been going on adventures with me and telling me the truth for 25 years. So blessed!

(seven) Physical defeat: injuring my back at the beginning of the summer effectively canceling the four triathlons I had registered for. I did cry about this quite a bit. What I got in exchange for this agony was a lot of self knowledge as well as a lot of love from my family and friends. I'll take it.

Bummer.

(eight) Entertained a lot of visitors this year - like a lot. ( A handful of our Illinois family just pulled out of the driveway. This post is my attempt to not spend the evening crying.) And it was awesome!!! Having visitors is a huge blessing. I am always humbled when folks are willing to sacrifice their time and resources to come East for a visit. I am most grateful for the good sight seeing, the heart to heart talks and the raucous Rock Band singing!!

The Beach

New York City

Rock Band!!!

(nine) Biggest head spinning moment: My kids deciding to return to homeschooling after their maiden voyage year in public school and deciding this very late in August. Screeeeeeeeeech! What?!?! But now, three months later, I am very grateful to have my kids near me nearly every day. They make me laugh, they make me think, they make me better. Gosh, it is all about me isn't it?

Look how fun homeschooling is!!

(ten) I learned a lot about the heart of God in 2010 and I am convinced more fervently than ever that He is the one for me. I am in - I don't understand everything - I have questions and I am perplexed by some things but I see this world and the people in it and every molecule convinces me that God is true, that the Bible is trustworthy and that my hope belongs no where except at the feet of Jesus. I also learned a lot about diversity in world views this year. And have come to feel strongly that genuine listening to what people believe and think and hope is hugely important. To listen more than talk is the only way to have an authentic discussion, not with the goal of conversion but understanding.

Cheers to 2010!

Thank you for lessons learned and good times had.

Looking expectantly toward a beautiful (whatever that may mean) 2011!

(bonus) Number one memory from 2010: Singing "Soul Sister" by Train with my daughter on the way home from a swim meet on a lovely summer evening. So sweet. So, so thankful.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-24T15:54:00.000-05:00

She was his girl, he was her boyfriend

She would be his wife, take him as her husband

A surprise on the way, any day, any day

Each December we take our Mary and Joseph Nativity figures on a journey through the house en route to the Nativity scene. A journey to Bethlehem re-enactment if you will. We started doing this when the kids were young and, sweetly, they continue the tradition. This year Mary and Joseph started their journey at the top of the stairs. One morning I saw that Mary had kind of tipped and it looked like Joseph was kissing her. It was a nice.

...and they will call him Immanuel (God is with us) ~ Matthew 1:23

I am grateful to live in a place in the world where we are free to celebrate this amazing holiday in any way we choose. I hope you find yourself in a good place this holiday season with good people and good food (I mean, come on!)

Merry Christmas.

Christmas Mantra - starting NOW

2010-12-14T20:13:00.000-05:00

Today, at Target, I struggled over which tissues to buy. Yes, I did. How stupid is that?

Previously I had spend a chunk of time pondering the merits of matching wrapping paper.

Finding the "perfect" gifts is also occupying a bit of brain space.

Then there is the whole spectrum of Christmas cards. Letter? No letter? Funny letter? Serious letter? Does everyone get a letter? A poem perhaps? Haiku or maybe a limmerick?

By the grace of God these words wafted into my head;

Let This Be Enough

I consider this phrase to be my Christmas present from the Lord. I know that makes me sound like a nut job - I am totally fine with that. Totally. But I know it is a gift because these are words that I would never, ever, ever think of on my own.

"Let this be enough" has never been my modus operandi - oh goodness no.

"Let us do more than there is time to do!"

"Let us make incredibly lengthy to-do lists!"

"Let us build Rome today!"

Those are my words, my ways. And often, it is a good thing to be industrious because it keeps us moving forward (forward is good). It keeps things fresh (fresh is good). Sometimes it makes things a little tense (tense is not always good). This tendency can also makes things down right horrible (horrible is not good).

So, Let This Be Enough is my Christmas mantra starting NOW - because nobody cares if the wrapping paper matches and nobody cares if the tissues are antiviral. The perfect gift may or may not exist. But time is a wasting and this season is magical and Ben Harper does sing...............

Gather around, for today won't come again, it won't come again

Sweet

2010-12-01T21:41:00.000-05:00

God loves a lullaby
In a mothers tears in the dead of night
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.
God loves a drunkards cry,
The soldiers plea not to let him die
Better than a Hallelujah sometimes.

We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah

The woman holding on for life,
The dying man giving up the fight
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes
The tears of shame for what's been done,
The silence when the words won't come
Are better than a Hallelujah sometimes.

We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody

Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah

Better than a church bell ringing,
Better than a choir singing out,singing out.

We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts

Are better than a Hallelujah

by: Amy Grant

I first heard this song as it was being sung by a lovely teen girl at church. Whew ~It was tough to keep the tears at bay. Her singing was beautiful but the words.....they hit me. I am grateful for these words. Especially the "mess we are" part. Especially that part.

How 'The Office' Has Infiltrated My Everyday

2010-11-18T17:12:00.000-05:00

So - I was doing GREAT avoiding the big black hole of popular television. And not by some super-conscious choice. It was really just the side effect of working evenings. Still it gave me something to feel good and indie about. Seinfeld? Saw it once. Friends? Saw it never. Sex In The City? Nope. Lost? Too much commitment. The Office? Bah, just an American rip- off right? Nope......it is a gem. Sure, I'm coming around six years after the fact. But still....

Thanks to a little invention called the Wii and its ability to have conjugal visits with Netflix you can watch almost anything at absolutely any time. I was forever stumbling upon my daughter watching episode after episode of The Office. The theme song became ingrained in my brain by default. Bum bum badda bum bum badda bum bum....something like that. I kept hearing the same voices delivering familiar lines; " That's what she said" and " Michael!". One dreamy afternoon she invited me to check it out. Whatever, I was tired anyway. I settled in and prepared to scoff. Alas, I was hooked. The show is hilarious and I am completely over the moon for Dwight K. Schrute, a man's man, a beet farmer. Who doesn't like root vegetables?

Dwight ~ Isn't he cute?

And now I find myself .................

...thinking about funny little things that happen on the show and chuckling to myself. Like a lot. I've completely weaned myself off Zoloft with this show*. Kevin's voice makes me cry with laughter - well, and his face too.

Super nice, super silly, super juvenile ~ Kevin

...asking nearly everyone I meet, including but not limited to the check- out lady at Target if they watch The Office.

...frequently shouting the word "FACT!" when trying to get my point across and conversely:

...frequently shouting the word "FALSE!" when someone says something ridiculous.

...briefly looking into the camera (which exists only in my mind) for relief when I am trapped in conversations with crazy people.

Steve Carrell as Michael Scott. 95% narcissistic jerk ~ 5% really good guy.

I work with a guy named Michael and it is the joy of my day to stand at one end of the clinic and yell his name the way Dwight yells Michael's name on the show. "Michael!" hee hee hee......

So that's it. That is how The Office as infiltrated my everyday. And I am glad. My kids may not be as glad. And probably the check-out ladies at Target are also not glad. And probably my co-worker Michael(!) is not glad. I'm sure I'll get over it eventually.

Oh, one more thing - when it came time to carve pumpkins this year, I carved this:

It's Dwight! Can you see it?

*this is a joke

Sunday Dinner

2010-11-14T17:27:00.000-05:00

Two months ago I found this recipe for Lamb Ragu in, what every eater knows to be an amazing recipe source, Esquire Magazine. The picture is what got me. It drew me in to such a degree that the lengthy ingredient list did not hold me back. Big progress for me who once rejected a Lemon Tart recipe based on the ridiculous number of ingredients and followed closely by a ridiculous number of steps. No way I was going that far into the kitchen. But no more - I looked forward to this endeavor. It was fun to spend some quality time in the kitchen - the ingredients were pretty to look at and the smells, divine.

The Culprit. Notice the pretty girl slurping seductively from the spoon - Esquire/boys.

The ingredients ~ I love these pictures on other people's blogs ~ I wanted one. It only took ten tries. (at least)

First ingredient in the pan is bacon = Awesome recipe.

Oranges, marjoram, mint, salt and fennel.

Here the sauce is mainly complete and needs to simmer for an hour or so. It's a little dicey photographing a tomato based dish and having it not look like vomit. Hopefully I have succeeded. This project has given me an appreciation for food photographers.

Piper keeps me company while reading and waiting for dinner.

Last minute additions to the sauce include pistachios - yum.

The recipe called for some crazy hand made noodles - I used fettuccine and it was lovely.

Behold! When the cooking was complete I was so happy to be eating it that I did not take a picture! Silly. This photo is from Esquire and looks much prettier than mine would have. This recipe turned out great, was really not very hard at all and even my kids liked it. Big Win.

Saturday Night's Alright For.............................................

2010-10-23T23:45:00.001-04:00

Grocery Shopping!

Heck Yeah. This afternoon I realized that any hope for a real grocery run this week meant going tonight. I said,

"Hey Connor, would you go to the grocery store with me"

"Sure"

I was surprised he agreed so readily and while he did attempt to renegotiate the terms, he came along and was quite helpful.

Connor and I split the list and met up three quarters of the way through the trip.

"That last song was Phil Collins"

"How do you know Phil Collins?"

"I don't know but it added some excitement to this trip"

And that statement right there got me thinking about Elda, my Mother In Law. She liked to say excitement was everywhere, you just had to look for it. This is, for sure, true at the local food shop on a Saturday night! It was fun being at the store with Connor. It was nice hanging out with my boy. It was sweet to see him pondering over the frozen pizzas. We tag-teamed the bagging duties and chitty chatted on the way home. I have found this season of motherhood to be challenging. The metamorphosis from boy to man is fraught with a million little angsts. I mean, I don't know how he feels, I'm talking about my own million angsts. There is no policy and procedure manual, no checklist. Aarrghh! It feels like disaster is one bad decision away. One bad decision made by ME. Perhaps I'm being dramatic? or narcissistic?.......or both? In any case - tonight was a good night - it was fun. I paused in the bread aisle to thank God for this break in regularly scheduled programming.

NYC YES!

2010-10-12T20:12:00.000-04:00

I was lucky enough to spend Sunday and Monday in New York City. An awesome time was had by all and I have the following recommendations based on this trip:

This hotel,

ROCKS!!!!

Hyatt on the Hudson is in Jersey City, New Jersey and a four minute train ride from World Trade Center in Manhattan. The train station is located right next to the hotel. That was only the beginning of this hotel's greatness. The staff were, you won't believe this, friendly! We were allowed to check in five hours early. Yep. The guys who parked the car? Flipping great. Do you need water? Do you need directions? These are questions they asked. Unbelievable. Also, the cost was much less than staying in the city. Check it out if you are in the neighborhood.

Next up:

Being a tourist is cool:

Do this:

For $50 (each) we had on and off transportation, interesting tour guides, an amazing view of the city and a breeze. Very nice. Second time I've done this and really, I know it seems corny but it was completely cool and worth the coin. DoubleDeckerRedBusesAreCool

Value of the weekend (it was not the $8 cheeseburger, as you can imagine);

See Lady Liberty for free.

Ride this thing.

Behold the Staten Island Ferry.

These big lugs go back and forth between Staten Island (duh) and New York City every half hour. They are free and accommodate 4000 riders hence, no long lines. The lines to ride the Statue of Liberty Ferry which sails to the island on which Lady Liberty resides are long - very, very long- also a ticket to ride costs $12. Now the Staten Island Ferry does not go right up to the Statue but for the price, $0, you get a very good look. And, as everywhere in NYC, the people watching is prime.

Beer recommendation of the season:

It was good. Very good. Especially after walking many miles.
Did I mention that it was good?

What a weekend. Rockefeller Plaza is sporting its skating rink. The Rockettes are gearing up for the Holiday Spectacular. The price for a beautiful pashima scarf is $5. Times Square at night is like nothing I've ever seen. The Metropolitan Museum of Art's cost is suggested $20 but you don't have to pay $20 - you pay what you wish. Central Park can be confusing and it is big. I would research that more for next time. The heritage of our country is a melting pot (School House Rock anyone?) and spending just a few hours in a big city is a beautiful reminder of this.

Good Times.

Bad Nurse!

2010-10-06T17:06:00.000-04:00

For the past couple of weeks I have devoted much of the time I would normally spend watching The Office to studying this:

ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) is the next step after CPR when someone is down. Meaning unconscious, not breathing and lacking a pulse.

If there something one does not want to be lacking, it is a pulse.

I have committed algorithms and medications to memory as well as the application of both to various, precarious situations.

And in return, I got me one of these:

After two stressful days of learning and practicing and proving and wondering and testing I knew I needed something strong to soothe my soul. So I went to one of these:

To get one of these:

And as I was walking through the store all I could think about was the possibility that someone might drop dead right in front of me and I could try out all my new skills. I was eyeing people, trying to assess their cardiac risk factors. Hmmm....there's a smoker. Ah, morbid obesity. That one's not looking so good. Is anyone clutching their chest? As soon as these thoughts registered in my conscious mind I felt horrible. Horrible! So I added some shortbread cookies to my coffee order and got the heck out of there.

The Town

2010-09-25T14:49:00.002-04:00

If you are not allergic to the f-word or to having every muscle in your body (including your brain) tense for two hours you should go see this movie.

Exceeds expectations.

Ben Affleck - back to his roots, as I understand them, here. Did a great job directing as well as acting and I did see his name with a screen writing credit. Wow.

A gritty cast of characters working in a world of many layers. This is not a movie about bank robbers - although they are excellent at what they do. I wish I could host a dinner party with half the organizational skills these guys display while relieving financial institutions of their wares. These are guys, guys with family history, family history that weighs them down and skews their view of the world - and who, my friends, can't boast that? Still, there are moments in the film when I laughed out loud - not just me, other people were laughing too. So thank you Mr. Affleck for a little comic relief. Nicely done.

You can get the gist from the trailer. It is a roller coaster ride, fully worth the price of admission. Check it out if you get a chance.

One disclaimer: This guy, on the left. I believe is Jon Hamm of Madmen fame. Yeah - he is horrible in this movie. Horrible. I'm not sure how he got in on this sweet gig. He must be somebody's nephew.

Staying Alive

2010-09-24T23:29:00.000-04:00

I had to update my CPR card this week. This is what I learned - the correct tempo for chest compressions is represented by the song above. Click play, if you haven't already. There you have it; one, two, three, four. The beat is 100/minute and that is how often you will want to bang on someone's chest if they are pulseless.

I found this helpful and hilarious. While we were practicing - we were also singing - stayin alive, stayin alive, ah, ah, ah, ah, stayin alive.

Which is just..........funny.

Here is an additional useful fact ~ an AED (automatic external defibrillator) is a device found in most public settings which ANYONE can use to 'shock' an unconscious person who is also without a heartbeat. I know that sounds very scary but no matter for these AEDs are absolutely idiot proof. I only share this to encourage anyone who might come across a fellow human being in this sort of need to go ahead and help out. Once the AED is turned on (using the ON button) it begins to talk and tell you exactly what to do - in plain English.

One more thing: in November the American Heart Association is coming out with new guidelines (you heard it here first) stating that bystanders can perform 'compression only CPR' - this means you do not have to put your mouth on the mouth of a stranger. (unless that stranger is Johnny Depp yo! - ahem.....sorry about that) Indeed, using compressions only will still promote oxygen circulation by, well, circulating that blood baby!

This concludes "What I Learned This Week"

What did you learn this week?

Observation Station

2010-09-23T16:43:00.000-04:00

I did one of my favorite things recently. Fly. Like in an airplane. I love that. It was a tiny plane - the two seats/aisle/two seats kind. Ooh - that scares me a bit but I survived.

I flew from Philly to Milwaukee to participate (as a volunteer) in Ironman Wisconsin. Wow! That will be the next post.

Back to traveling:

Lots of humanity, in its glory, passes by the gaze of the traveler and in that vein, I have some observations. I hope these are not too snarky for I only just this week heard my Pastor say: "you will never lock eyes with someone that Jesus does not love." Yowza. That's some food for thought right there.

Back to my observations:

Question: Express in a percentage the chance that the guy with vintage jeans, black t-shirt and guitar getting on the plane will have Bose Noise Canceling Headphones (MSRP $299.95)?

Answer: 100%

Just friendly fashion advice in the form of a logical statement: (hey - before my career as nurse/wife/mother catapulted me to these heights, I dreamed of a career in fashion - I still have some of my 'designs'. No, really)

If one chooses a turtle neck, a big sweater and jeans then flip flops are not the appropriate footwear.

This is a simple issue of balance. No judgments, just saying. Naked feet with covered neck? No.

Last thing.

Milwaukee's General Mitchell International Airport wins the prize for best signage.

This sign is hanging in the security area -

Finally, a place to dress, tie your shoes and put your quart-size ziplock baggie of toiletries back in your purse. Yes!

I saw it, I loved it, I considered asking permission to photograph it and reconsidered. Snapped the photo and power-walked to my gate. Only in Wisconsin right? This is the best.

I Need Cream in my Coffee

2010-08-27T09:17:00.002-04:00

No, seriously. I do.

Yesterday I had to be at work at 7am (gasp!). I know there are tons of people who go to work early like that, even earlier! I do it about twice a month so it is a big event at my house. We have a sweet little coffee maker at work so I knew I'd be okay in the coffee department. The cream situation is a bit more dicey. Sometimes there are flavored creamers, sometimes expired. Sometimes there is regular creamer but it is fat free and this just tastes funny to me so I don't like to drink it. Hey, does anyone hear whining? Me neither.

Ultimately it is not my employer's responsibility to keep my favorite cream on hand. So I packed my little pint of half and half in my lunch bag and took it to work. Delightful. I had perfectly creamed coffee. I repacked my little pint into my lunch bag when I left work. Yay.

This morning I made coffee and opened the fridge to retrieve the creamer when my blood ran cold. Where is the creamer? Slowly my eyes scanned the kitchen and lighted on my little red lunch bag wherein the creamer still resided. Yes. With all of my high maintenance planning I failed to return the creamer to the refrigerator and now I had a nice brew of weird smelling half and half to dump down the drain.

Peshaw! I'm drinking milk in the coffee this morning and gosh, it's just not the same.

What I Saw and What It Means

2010-08-21T21:57:00.005-04:00

Last night, on the Tee Vee - while watching Miss Congeniality 2 - I saw something that gave me great hope for the future of our country. For the future of our financial health. For the future just in general.

This silver lining came in the form of a commercial - a commercial for the renowned denim and fleece peddler - Old Navy.

If you've seen an Old Navy ad lately - you've seen these guys:

But last night - I spied new characters - new and real characters. That's right! Old Navy is using real people in their ads again.

What can this mean?

The future is bright! That's what it means. Old Navy must have more cash to pay real people to appear in the ads. I don't know but this gave me a good feeling - a feeling of happiness all over.

Two more things ~ whilst searching for images for this post I stumbled on two that were cool but didn't fit anywhere. I'm tossing them here just to share.

Here is the cleanest and most organized Old Navy I have ever laid eyes on. Yo.

This artwork is by Sarajo Frieden - I had never heard of her but I checked out her site and really liked everything I saw. A link to her work is here.

Ain't Nothin Left but the Cryin' Now

2010-08-19T09:12:00.005-04:00

Oh Dear.............if anyone recalls a post I wrote last summer (what?!?! you don't?!?!) about my husband's man crush on one Mr. Derrek Lee - First Baseman for the infamous Chicago Cubs, you will be able to appreciate the despair my man is in today.

Chicago Cubs trade Derrek Lee to the Atlanta Braves

you can read the gory details here. (or not)

I received this horrible news from my nearly-in-tears husband while I was walking in the woods with my friend Ann. He called her phone looking for me. I wish I could explain how unusual it is for him to hunt me down like that. And he said "this rocked my soul, I just had to tell you". I wish I could explain how unusual it is for him to use the words 'rock my soul'.
Wow. That's big.

What may be cool about this? The Braves are in first place right now (I'm talking baseball here). First place in front of the Phillies. At this particular juncture we are living in Philly country which is cool. But now, that the Braves have a Cub, if the Braves could win the World Series it would be sort of like the Cubs winning. Does that make sense? No? Okay.

What is totally uncool about this? I just bought a Derrek Lee baseball jersey for Father's Day and gave it to my man. Boo hoo.

Aw look, a happy Cubs fan - that's not something you see everyday.

I Know This Much Is True

2010-08-16T22:50:00.003-04:00

I know that these shoes:

Will never, ever, ever make my behind look like this:

Or this:

Never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever.

Run and tell THAT.

Sunday Dinner

2010-08-16T09:31:00.002-04:00

Last night we were sitting around the dinner table and the whole lot of us were in a silly mood. YAY! My daughter told this joke (credit goes out to Mr. Neilson who told her the joke originally):

There's this guy in California and he was a really good guy. Like, a really good guy. One day God said, hey dude, what can I do for you? You're such a great guy, tell me what you need and I'll get it done for you. The guy really loves Hawaii, which isn't that far from California but this guy does not like to fly. At all. So he asks God to build him a bridge from California to Hawaii. God ponders this and tells the guy - dude, do you know how hard that would be? I mean the water is sooooo deep and it's like two thousand miles across. What about gas stations, you'd need some of those. Hurricanes could come and wipe it out. I don't know man, isn't there anything else I could do for you?

So the man ponders and he asks God; could you please explain to me how women's minds work?

And the Lord said; about that bridge, did you want two lanes or four?

I will concede that this joke is filled with theological inaccuracies. However, the mind of a woman being complicated - that I can personally vouch for.

Happy Monday!

Sunday is a Good Day

2010-08-08T12:45:00.003-04:00

I had this conversation in the church nursery today with a two year old cutie,

Me: Is this your bunny Macey?

Macey: Yes. He doesn't squeak anymore because I threw up on him.

Me: Oh

Macey: I threw up on him in my bed.

Me: Well, that will do it.

Then I went to the service and heard great, rockin' music that made me feel........just happy.

Saviour
He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save

And now I'm sitting on the couch drinking coffee, reading the paper, next to my favorite man, listening to my kids rock out in the basement.

Life is good.

Happy Sunday to everyone.

My Husband

2010-07-12T09:41:00.008-04:00

This is not my actual husband - this is Eric Clapton - but my husband sort of looks like Mr. Clapton and also wishes he could play guitar like Mr. Clapton. For some reason I have no pictures of my real husband on my computer and am too lazy to search for one. So I'm just using this one. And since the picture does not actually impact the post I feel okay using it because I love a post with pictures, so there ya go.

My Husband.

My husband is (honestly) one of the nicest guys in the world. He is a super hard worker, unselfish and kind. These things are actually true! He is funny (most of the time, especially to himself) and he would do anything for you. He is like, Minnesota Nice - old school nice. His parents did a really good job.

But, (who didn't know there was a but on the way?)

Every so often something comes out of his mouth (not like food or anything) that makes me cringe with pain.

January 1997 - I am in labor and we get to the hospital. We get to the Labor and Delivery nurses station. (Did I mention that I was in labor?) There are a few nurses at the desk and it is possible that they were sitting down. Being a nurse, I recognize that sitting is a rarity. My husband says the following words as he drops my overnight bag on the floor;

"Gravy train's over girls, time to get to work."

And he did not mean this to be rude - he was just being funny.
Right? Hilarious.

Some time in the distant past - My husband's boss is asking him why he couldn't get a report done at the time the boss requested it. My husband says:

"I could have gotten it done, I didn't want to get it done."

He was just being honest. Who wants a dishonest employee? Don't you just wish you could say this to your boss?

And just this past Friday evening (which is what inspired this post). Our neighbors were walking their dogs and they stopped to chat. They are having their kitchen redone (which is exactly like our kitchen so I am interested in hearing the details). They are telling us all about the cabinets and the windows and the counter tops. My husband says this:

"Wow, I hope your kids are still going to be able to go to college. Ha, ha, ha."

I hope they will keep speaking to us as they are very nice people. And, I would love to use their contractor if the time is ever right to raid our kid's college fund and redo our kitchen.

I will repeat - my husband is an awesome, awesome man and quite funny as you can see.

The Doctor Will See You Now

2010-07-06T10:44:00.006-04:00

Could you do your job while hanging out of a car going 25 miles/hour?

I work with some really good doctors. Really smart and really talented. But on their best day I don't think they could hang with this guy ~

This is Doctor Gerard Porte - the official MD of the Tour de France (yes, I have tour fever or is it fevre le tour?)

I was watching the tour and saw this guy hang out of a car to treat a rider. The rider hangs on while the good doctor assesses the damage and provides treatment. This is amazing to me on all levels. Sometimes I find it difficult to fully function driving up to the window at McDonalds. Paying, getting the change and the food and the straws - it can be hectic! I cannot begin to fathom providing medical care while the wind whips past at 40 km/hr. And the rider too. How does he keep his balance, hold onto the car and put forth whichever body part is injured? Amazing. That's all.

Wow! You go Dr. Porte you can read an interview with him here: Gerard Porte

Starting Today

2010-07-03T23:43:00.007-04:00

I am NO expert. I don't completely understand this crazy cycling extravaganza but I do love watching it. And it started today!

Every year I watch a little more. There is something magnetic about it. It is just so......colorful. I think that's it - the uniforms - they are amazing. When the peleton is on the move it's like watching a wave of Skittles travel over the Alps. It is beautiful!!!!!!!!!!

No, no that's not it. It's the incredible athleticism. It is fun for me to sit with a nightly bowl of ice-cream and watch these guys cover 2000 miles over a grueling three weeks. The gritted teeth, the zero body fat, grinding up mountains and then flying back down. It is a nearly impossible feat and yet, it is done. It is done by people who actually want to do it. Who keep coming back for more. I think that's the part I love.

Or maybe it's this:

Bah! These guys are smoking! A real cyclist once explained to me that in the early days the riders believed that smoking opened their lungs for the mountain stages. Ignorance is bliss?

Of course there's this guy - the only reason the average American even knows about the Tour de France (myself included in this group) ~

Lance is back at it. This year will be his 13th Tour de France. Impressive, especially at age 38. He's riding for Team Radio Shack and allegedly has some rivalry with Alberto Contador - last year's Tour winner. If you've read any of Mr. Armstrong's books you know that being his rival is not an enviable position. Hmmm............it should be interesting.

If you have any desire at all to know more about this insane event ~ here are some links:

http://www.letour.fr/us/index.html

http://www.versus.com/cycling/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tour_de_France

Let's Laugh!

2010-06-27T22:15:00.005-04:00

Sometimes, when it's late and I've run out of ways to waste my time on the internets (sic), I watch Comedy Central. Sometimes, my husband and I do this together. It can be raucous! Self censoring is, of course, required.

Two nights ago we stumbled upon this guy:

Bah!!!! This guy is hilarious (and fairly clean as well which can be hard to come by). If you are looking for some levity, need some laughs, want an endorphin rush without running, this is your man.

Here's a sampling:

My best wishes for a great week to everyone ~

Word for Word

2010-06-22T08:29:00.006-04:00

My baby boy turned fifteen yesterday. And in a way, so did I. When do you stop feeling like a new mom eh? Well the boy and his sister are many hours away on a mission trip with church. My husband and I, while missing them dearly, are making the most of our temporary empty nest and spent the evening having a great dinner with friends. When we returned home we had the following message on the answering machine:

Hi Mommy and Daddy
This is your son
and it's my birthday today
I didn't know if you knew that or not
so I decided to call home.

Thank you Mommy for birthing me
and Thank you Daddy
for passing on your genetic material
to help create me.

So yeah......
Thanks
Bye

Happy Birthday Connor!
You make a Mama proud.

Grand Canyon Adventure

2010-05-28T11:31:00.013-04:00

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away where corn and kindness prevail, two girls stood together in their one-hallway high school and became lifelong friends. As life would have it, the years held an amazing combination of good times and not-so-good times. School, boys, jobs then careers, husbands and babies. All of these things carried on the wings of (sometimes brutal) honesty and faith and friendship. It wasn't long before the girls discovered that they were on the eve of their fortieth birthday.

Screeeeeeeech........................what?!?!?!?!?!

What shall we do? A spa? A cruise?

Nah.....let's do something hard.

I know! Let's hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back out in one day! Now, that will be hard.

Okay.

And so, they did.

May 6th 2010 - 0530am sunrise from the South Kaibab Trail ~ flipping awesome

Here we are at the very beginning of our adventure. It was cold (40's) and windy at the rim. We blew through our layers of clothing as we descended so I dubbed us "hiker barbies".

There are no words and this picture is nothing. The Grand Canyon is an awe/tear inspiring experience.

This is one of many signs that discourage the precise activity that we are now engaged in.

Part of the South Kaibab trail, which we used to reach the bottom, can be seen snaking around this part of the canyon.

After 6 miles, 4800 feet of descent and four hours - we arrive at the bottom where the Colorado river runs through the bottom of the canyon. There is this awesome tunnel just before crossing the bridge. We were sooo happy to give our knees a break! It was great to reach this milestone. We are happy and I think it shows!

Yay! Notice this is outfit #3

The Bright Angel Trail is the next (very long, hot and steep) leg of our journey.

There are not many pictures on the way back up because.......well.....it was really hard. When we stopped for lunch, it was 100 degrees in the sun. Hence, the warning signs as seen above. The return trip to the rim consisted of 9 miles and 4450 feet of elevation. It took us 6 hours to reach the top. We did really well (if I do say so myself!). We were pretty good about eating and drinking and just keeping each other going. I will say that the last 3 miles SUCKED - my feet were hurting, my legs were tired, I was sweating like everywhere and I was just done. We took little breaks, chewed gum, ate power gels and tried to make each other laugh. It worked and pretty soon we were here:

At the top and looking happy! (outfit #4)
When I saw this picture I could not believe how good we looked because we were feeling so physically rough. We were in shock - it was weird to be done. I admit, I cried a little.

The next day we went to some 'scenic points' to check out the canyon from above. It was very satisfying to see the trails (waaaaay down there!) we had walked the day before. It made our adventure even more adventurous!

The back of these shirts say "I made it to the bottom and back!" We are going to iron on letters that say "IN ONE DAY!"
I wish there was video of us walking around this day because we looked like old women - everything hurt - for days. But it was a good hurt.

I think it was right about this time that we started thinking about what we should do for our 50th birthday!

And if you find a love that's tender, if you find someone who's true
Thank the Lord, He's been doubly good to you
~Rich Mullins

Phone Vs. Toilet

2010-05-21T11:05:00.006-04:00

Somehow my phone ended up here:

I won't say that my sweet daughter was waiting for a text from her sweet spring formal date and so had the phone in her pocket when she took a bathroom break while we were shopping for shoes (don't even get me started on the shoe selection available to 13 year old girls!) and somehow the phone made a splash. I won't say any of that. Don't even read that last part. Never happened.

Sadly - after intensive phone resuscitation - the phone was declared dead on the scene. The phone did make one last effort at resurrection by erroneously calling Illinois at 3:30am but that, my friends, is a different post.

I am now forced to enter the store as pictured above. Which is something I am loathe to do because like the cereal aisle there are many choices and like the cereal aisle you know you are paying a lot for a little.

I explain to the nice lady that I've had my phone for two years and just want whatever crappy phone would be free with my plan (which is a big plan as my husband has his work phone on there so I suspect that we are personally paying the electric bill for this particular store).

"But you could have a Smart Phone, you could have a QWERTY keyboard, you could have....."

"Nope, nope, nope. I just want the cheapest, crappiest phone available for free"

"Uh, okay. Well these over here are 'free' but you have to pay $18 upgrade fee"

"What am I upgrading?"

"Nothing. That's just what they call it"

"I'm not doing this"

"But you don't have a phone!"

"That's okay."

Later that evening my husband (yes, I have played the girl card) goes to the T-Mobile kiosk in the mall and guess what? He gets a phone FOR FREE. They waive the $18 and on top of that give us a (alleged) 15% on our bill for the next 24 months.

Things that make you go hmmmmmmm????????

A little sad...............................

2010-05-15T12:49:00.009-04:00

It may or may not be obvious that I am a fairly huge Dave Matthews Band fan. In the mid to late 90's my awesome step-son Graham left a DMB CD in my van and I started listening by default. Somehow I fell in love. My first Dave show was at Deer Creek Amphitheater in Noblesville, Indiana in 1999. It was genuinely a religious experience. Nearly every summer since I have made the trek to some outdoor theater to see the dudes do their thing. Which they do exceptionally well. So it was sad for me to read the following on Facebook:

As we feel the excitement building for this summer, we wanted to let everyone know that after twenty years of consecutive touring, Dave Matthews Band will be taking 2011 off. We feel lucky that our tours are a part of so many people's lives, and wanted to give everyone as much notice as possible. We're excited to make... this summer one of our best tours yet, and look forward to returning to the road in 2012.

Aw man. This made me a little sad. I'm embarrassed to admit how sad. I do try to avoid being too attached to earthly things. (I know that part sounded kooky) These are just men making music. But gosh! it is awesome music and it speaks to me. The whole concert experience is very familial and has an uplifting vibe. (With brief interruptions by moronic youths who drink waaaayyy tooooo much).

Alpine Valley 2008 - it is possible that we were the only tailgaters with real wine glasses. :)

Of course these guys deserve a break. And I hope it's a great one ~ maybe they'll go to Disneyland or clean their garages or just lay in the hammock ~ vacation stuff.

So, good for you Dave and boo for me Jen.
So glad that I am seeing him TWICE this summer!!

Alpine Valley 2009 - Good times!

There are rules.....

2010-05-14T12:42:00.002-04:00

There are dog poop rules. Yep, it's true.

Recently one of my neighbors (nameless as of yet) broke one of these rules and......well it's just not right.

So I am posting the (very brief) dog poop rules for all to see:

#1 (duh) Pick up your own doggie doo-doo immediately.

#2 Carry you little bag of poo all the way back to your house and dispose of it in your own garbage can.

#2a It is OKAY to drop the bag of goodies into a neighbor's trash if the can is, A>on the curb and B> has not yet been emptied.

#2b It is NOT OKAY to drop you dog's crap into your neighbor's empty trash-can even if it is still sitting on the curb.

Why is it not okay? Because it is just rude. Because now I have to live with the smell of your dog's excrement wafting up from my garbage can for a whole week! Gosh! I have a dog, I can barely stand the smell of my own dog's doo-doo.

Whew! That feels better.

Oh, oh, one more thing. If you do not have a dog. Please do not stand in your yard and ask me if I am going to pick up my dog's poop. You can clearly see that I am bending over with a bag in my hand - I'm not picking daisies honey.

Watch for a more exciting and less cranky post about my epic adventure to the Grand Canyon! Wow! It was awesome and I highly recommend anyone to set their sights on this amazing place.

See you soon!

Lasagna with Love?

2010-04-30T10:25:00.003-04:00

I usually work on Monday evenings which means my family are on their own for dinner time. Most often I will prepare something in advance that they can cook - mom guilt anyone????

On a recent Monday, I did not get to the cooking part and had planned on making lasagna.

Hark! I said to myself. My son knows how to make lasagna! I'll have him make it.
Yes!

When son arrived home from school I delivered the good news to him; "Connor, you get to make lasagna tonight!" "What?" "Yes, you get to make dinner and please do it now before the computer sucks you into the black hole which is facebook." "Okay"

Then I skipped off to work.

Upon returning home I inquired of Connor ~

"Did you make the lasagna?"

"Yes"

"Did you make it with love?"

"No"

"Did you make it with hate? Because that would make everyone feel sick after eating it"

"No. I made it with indifference which will make everyone feel 'eh' after eating it"

"Can I make a blog post about this?"

"Yeah"

How To Swim Faster

2010-04-15T12:04:00.005-04:00

Swim your normal 'ol moderate, sometimes slow, pace for awhile.

Notice surfer looking dude wanting to share your lane.

Notice that he has on board shorts (no Speedo Thank Goodness!) and awesome hair.

Make mental note that these things probably indicate a slowish swimmer.

Wave him in with a smile and swim off.

Notice that he swims with amazing efficiency.

Damn!

Curse your judgmental idiot self!

At any time that you and surfer-dude/ awesome-swimmer guy are remotely close, try to keep up.

This is how to swim faster.

The End.

I Would Like to Thank......

2010-04-13T12:18:00.003-04:00

Thank you Tina Turner for singing Proud Mary while I ran up a hill today - you got me there!

Thank you to the dirty jobs/tree trimming/chain saw carrying guys working near the running path today - you were right there when I wanted to stop but I couldn't quit in front of a bunch of dudes! Thanks guys! You kept me running.

Thank you Target for having nearly everything I needed (and a few things I didn't need) today!

Thank you Starbucks for having good coffee.

Thank you little boy sitting in a shopping cart, talking on your Mommy's cell phone - you were hilarious!

It's only noon and I've had a really great day.

Thanks everyone!

Baby It (was) Hot Outside.......

2010-04-09T13:20:00.006-04:00

Oh friends - we had a little heat wave here ~Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday ~ it was in the 90's! Nineties! In April! My midwest friends had a wee bit of snow while we were frantically searching our dressers for a pair of shorts. Crazy.

The heat wave (which is over now, now it is 60 and gorgeous and I'm going outside as soon as this is written) got me thinking about two things.

#1 > Could somebody please figure out how to turn a fireplace into a freon-place? For those few days when it is hot but not hot enough, long enough to use the actual air conditioner. It would be great to plop down in front of the 'fireplace', turn it to 'cool' and become refreshed instantly. Oh, this is a good idea. Some engineering type could figure this out - I am sure of it! Remember, you heard it here first.

#2> Running in the heat is horrible. It is like being hit with a baseball bat, everywhere. The twisted thing is that I forget how horrible it is until the warm weather arrives. I have been working through a training plan for the past month or so and have felt great about my running. I have felt like this about my running:

But then Tuesday came along. I had four miles to slog through and I felt....so many things; nauseous, gaseous and pass-out-eous. Every few minutes felt like an hour. It is so discouraging to feel this way. It's a huge psych-out because instead of chalking it up to the heat I start thinking little, insidious things like this;

I SUCK!!!!!!
HOW WILL I EVER GET THROUGH THE WHOLE SUMMER?????
I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO RUN 13 MILES, I CAN'T EVEN RUN 4!!!

I pretty much felt like this:

No offense to Homer of course.

Hopefully, the heat has retreated for now and will provide some ramping-up time before making its true grand entrance. This will give me time to come up with some better internal dialogue. Maybe something like this;

I'm Awesome, the Heat Sucks!
One Mailbox at a time Sistah!
Don't be a Weiny, don't be a Weiny, don't be a Weiny.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Dave, Jen and Ben on Easter

2010-04-03T20:48:00.008-04:00

When Jesus Christ was nailed to His tree
Said "oh, Daddy-o I can see how it all soon will be
I came to shed a little light on this darkening scene

So the story goes, so I'm told
The people he knew were
Less than golden hearted
Gamblers and robbers
Drinkers and jokers, all soul searchers
Like you and me

Rumors insisted he soon would be
For his deviations
Taken into custody by the authorities
Less informed than he.
Drinkers and jokers, all soul searchers
Searching for love love love
Love is all around

Preparations were made
For his celebration day
He said "eat this bread and think of it as me
Drink this wine and dream it will be

Father up above, why in all this anger have you filled
Me up with love
Fill me love love love
Love love love
adapted from Christmas Song, DMB

At the homestead, we've got egg dying happening and Easter baskets made (one had to be in a popcorn bowl but you can't have everything). I've got Easter on my mind. As did everyone at Trader Joe's, I think. Easter is a big deal for the Christians of the world. Almost more than I can comprehend. Christian Easter goes like this: God set up a system of justice that required sacrifices for erroneous ways. And I don't mean like giving up cable TV, I mean like giving up some blood. Check out the Old Testament for more details. We further believe that Jesus, being God's son and yet still God (get a theologian to help you here, it's a tough one) became the ultimate sacrifice, atoning for the whole world's erroneous ways - past, present and future. The New Testament would be where these details are indexed. Be clear, this was not God changing his mind about consequences, this was God knowing his people and having a plan from the very beginning. Kind of like how you know, you know, what your kid is going to ask you when they slink into the room, you just know. So Jesus arrives (Christmas) and 34 years later he dies via a very gruesome crucifixion. But this is not the end of the story - he rises three days later (as foretold in the Old Testament). In this way Jesus defeats death thereby becoming our atonement. Hey - I know some of this stuff sounds crazy - you know - I do - and I choose it. I choose to be on this team - gratefully. So, that's what Easter is about to me. Not that I won't be loving the deviled eggs, ham and buttercreams that are sure to find their way onto my plate tomorrow, because I will. But everyday, everyday, I am loving that God loves us and that Jesus, the Dude is available to all people.

You may write me down in history

With your bitter twisted lies
You may trod me down in the very dirt
And still like the dust I'll rise

Does my happiness upset you
Why are you best with gloom

So you may shoot me with your words
You may cut me with your eyes
And I'll rise
I'll rise
I'll rise

Out of the shacks of history's shame
Up from a past rooted in pain
I'll rise
I'll rise
I'll rise

Now did you want to see me broken
Bowed head and lowered eyes
Shoulders fallen down like tear drops
Weakened by my soulful cries

I'll rise
I'll rise
I'll rise
I'll rise
I'll rise

adapted from Ben Harper's I'll Rise, based on the poem by Maya Angelou

Monday

2010-03-29T08:21:00.007-04:00

Returning from the cattle drive that is driving kids to school this a.m. I heard these words on the radio; (imagine a cool, gravely, oldish guy voice)

"Try the new Mini
Economical with 37 mpg
And still with Go-Kart handling"

And I begin to wonder, as maybe you are wondering too, is go-kart handling a good thing?

Then my mind races back to 1979 and the McBrides who lived next door to my Grandparents. Oh, what a crush I had on the youngest McBride - Mike. How I adored that long-haired, olive-skinned, brown-eyed, hippy boy. Gosh! Is it getting hot in here? Anyway, cutie McBride built a go-kart which he would race up and down the street. As one would expect, it was powered by a gasoline lawn mower engine. It was loud and awesome and the word ~ jalopy ~ came to mind whenever it made an appearance. These are the images power pointing through my brain while I'm listening to this Mini ad that must have cost a lot of money. And I am still wondering, even more now, is go-kart handling a good thing?

The average price for a Mini Cooper is $26,000. Yeppers. Twenty six thousand dollars.

Ha ha - Suckahs!!!!

Okay, to be fair - I did research this a bit and the whole Go-Kart handling is an angle that Mini uses. Due to it's low center of gravity and small size it allegedly has amazing handling - much like a ...... go kart. But it was just too juicy to pass up. Google it if you'd like. There are some good videos and explanations and just all sorts of stuff.

A little suffering goes a long way.

2010-03-25T19:13:00.009-04:00

On Monday I was at Power Pump class where we all get bossed around (I mean, encouraged) while lifting weights, doing squats, push-ups and other sometimes brutal (not like Bear Grylls brutal but suburban Mom at the YMCA brutal) stuff. At one point during the class I caught the eye of a fellow sufferer (voluntary suffering, of course, is the best kind). We just looked at each other, grunted and smiled. A knowing smile. A, yeah this is tough but so are we, smile.

And from that moment on, the class was better. Sans words, I made a connection and that made it feel like team suffering, not just Jennifer suffering. I had a wee more mojo after that.

Oh yeah - I'm waxing philosophical here - sorry.
Oh, wait, this is my blog. I am totally not sorry.

It is easy (and encouraged) to want to keep our suffering on the down low. Keep that stiff upper lip (what the aitch does that mean?) - and sometimes that is good - like at a Christmas party - who wants to hear about a hangnail or daddy issues? Nobody.

Furthermore, not everyone in our life is capable of actually hearing (listening, maybe, yes but hearing, probably, no) about what truly ails us (so different than what ales us, no?) so in sharing pain with these folks (not their fault of course), the suffering has just increased by many fold.

But when we can spill our guts a little or work out really hard a little (is that an oxymoron?) with someone on our team - well damn, it makes all the difference. In that nanosecond of admitting that all is not the way it should be, in that moment of pushing past limits that only existed in our own minds ~ vast chasms are crossed.

The evil urge to bow at the altar of perfection keeps us far from the comfort of fellow (fabulous, broken, hilarious, imperfect, encouraging and infuriating) human beings. Being honest, sweaty and true with a bam-bam pony tail takes a little courage. And damn, it makes all the difference.

Mama Said What?!?!?!

2010-03-16T11:07:00.008-04:00

When my emerging man/son looked like this:

He was a big fan of these:

If you have ever had the responsibility of feeding a toddler at lunch time you know that it can be a challenge and I say that with a capital CH! Oy! Each day is a new adventure in what may or may not be acceptable to the sensitive pallet of the three-year-old.

One go-to meal I could generally get my toddlers to eat was fishsticks. This seemed pretty reasonable. Fish has a good reputation - omega threes and all that. My kids were good with them.

Until one fateful day.....................

Connor asked, "What are fishsticks made of?"

And I chuckled (silly me) and said, "Well, fish." (I kept the 'duh' part silent)

"FISH!?!?!?!?!?" came flying out of my son's mouth "Fish?!!??!?!?!"

"I hate fish!!!!"

And that was the end of his fishstick days. He drew a line in the linoleum and has yet to cross it.

Silly boy.

Thanks Mom!

2010-03-12T08:46:00.007-05:00

My Mom sent an awesome birthday package which included a really pretty necklace, a collection of gorgeous handmade cards (she is a talented lady!) and $$. My Mom is particular about her cash gifts in that she insists that the money be spent only for 'fun things' ~ thanks Mom!

I have had my eye on a terrarium situation that I spied at this place:

Terrain at Styers in PA is a garden type shop but sooooo much more. Think 'Village Green' for any Midwest/Rockford readers. You can check out their offerings here.

This is the beautiful birthday card my Mom made and sent to me.

So one fine Friday - I collected everything I would need to make a rockin' terrarium and put it together. A very earthly yet somewhat glamorous garden lady gave me a lot of good advice about what I needed to be successful. I wanted a closed terrarium so that meant getting plants that want lots of moisture.

That includes these guys here which were chosen for their affinity for moisture, various heights and color. Also - we chose an odd number which is more pleasing to the eye. My grandma told me that long ago and I have heard it repeated by many reliable sources ~ it must be true.

A terrarium starts with a layer of pebbles - but I decided to use a collection of shells and beach glass that I had collected. I put them all in a freezer bag and hammered the crap out of it. That was excellent therapy! It looked like this after I went all medieval* on it:

Next up is a layer of charcoal (I definitely did not know about this). Charcoal filters the air in a closed system. This keeps the plants healthy. Cool.

This is what the base of the terrarium looked like with the 'pebbles' and charcoal. There are the little plants waiting to move into their new home.

Dirt was the final installation prior to putting the plants in. Not too exciting. But here is the final product:

I totally love it. I can see how one could really go crazy with these things. There are so many options for containers, plants, etc. It was a fun project and now it suns itself in front of the living room windows. Thanks again Mom!

* who, in the world, decided how to spell 'medieval'????? That just makes no kind of sense (to me).

Worthy of Perusal

2010-03-08T08:15:00.007-05:00

This is a cheater post in which I'm just going to link you to someone else's blog. It's Monday after all!

I recently laid eyes on a book titled "Do Hard Things", subtitled "A Teenage Rebellion Against Low Expectations". YEAH!!!! That sounded awesome. Soon after I saw the book, I forgot about the book....until today. Our Youth Pastor reviewed it on his blog.

Here's the review

Oh! As if that weren't enough - the forward is written by this guy:

Yeah, you better read it.
You don't want a round house kick to the face when I'm wearing these bad boys - oh wait, that was from Napoleon Dynamite. Oops.

Things that make me go hmmmm..............

2010-03-05T16:30:00.002-05:00

I learned something awesome this week . I can't tell you where I learned this stuff because that would mean admitting that I've been seeing a counselor. That would mean saying out loud that November, December and January were horrible months for me and that Sylvia Plath became the patron saint of my Christmas season. And I could never do that because, look at my profile picture, I'm happy! I've got everything a girl could ever want or need. So yeah - I'm not telling you WHERE I learned this but it WAS NOT at counseling! That's for sure.

Here it is ~ urgent vs. important ~ and how that impacts life lived day-to-day.

Urgent = food prep, carpooling, laundry, bills, wiping the dog's paws, going to work, personal hygiene, recycling, grocery shopping, garbage-taking-outing, oil changing, child guiding, phone answering, dust bunny chasing, etc. etc. etc.aaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!

Important = book reading, meaningful discussions, tea drinking, park walking, truth speaking, sky gazing, date night, talking about hopes and dreams, naps, cross country visits, sledding, all manner of working out, laughing, movie watching, coffee dates....the list goes on and on.

For the worker bees out there - the urgent can become all consuming because we (and by 'we' I don't mean 'me' - I don't) think that there will be an end to the urgent at which time we will begin to enjoy the important.

This, is a BIG FAT LIE. The urgent never dies and never goes away. The important, now that will leave. It will wither up and die a slow death.

Choosing the important - even though it may look frivolous - is....well, important. It somehow fills up the tanks. This may seem obvious to the wise reader but this concept was groundbreaking for your friendly neighborhood blogger here.

Okay - enough preaching, gosh! To clarify - I am preaching to myself but if anyone else can benefit from this soapbox offering - by all means - help yourself.

13 Year Old Girls and the Passage of Time - A Very Proustian Post

2010-03-02T10:37:00.005-05:00

Last week my sweet, sweet baby girl was scheduled to have some teeth pulled. She has been through this before and she has her own way of dealing with it. Her way goes something like this:

"Mom, don't talk to me and don't ask me how I'm feeling. Just drive and let's get it over with!"

Well, alright my little daughter made completely from sugar. I will do my best to follow your zen way to the oral surgeon.

I picked her up at school and we chatted all the way there. I did NOT ask her how she felt or if she wanted to talk about how she felt - as per her request. I talked ad nauseum about things I was thinking about and different nerve wracking experiences I myself had endured.

We arrived at the place of extraction and she jumped out of the car and then......she just started talking - like fast and like a lot. It sounded like this:

"Mom, it's so weird isn't it? I mean, I was just in geography class but now I'm in this parking lot and in just one second I'll be walking back to the car and it's soo weird how time moves. I'm sooo interested in the passage of time! I mean, I'm so worried about having my teeth pulled but really it will be over in no time and then I'll think 'well, that wasn't so bad' but I can't really think that right now because I'm so nervous. Aarrrgh! It's just so weird"

And truly, it was over 'like that' and we were walking back to the car just as she had predicted enroute to a chocolate shake and some fries.

The movement of time is a strange phenomenon. It is possible that enjoying this very moment will be the most difficult task any of us will attempt today.

What I've Learned......................................

2010-02-23T09:29:00.010-05:00

When the sun rises on this blog post, I will have turned forty.....40!

I'm totally scamming on my favorite magazine, Esquire, with this post.

(they have a 'what I've learned' feature each month)

Since 1970 I've learned ~

Truth is a savage balm.

While I do not officially 'collect' anything 'collectible', I have managed to gather an amazing group of friends - these good souls sustain me on this planet.

I have not learned who drinks OJ with "lots of pulp". Who is buying this stuff?

Investing in good quality skin care, when appropriate to do so, is a good thing.

There are times when the intense urge to 'make nice' must be beaten into submission.

I am slowly but surely losing my hearing. This used to make me cry, now it makes me a little sad and sometimes anxious but it's okay. I think.

Making all of the food for my wedding reception was idiotic and I would never do that again. I don't even know if I actually made enough to feed everyone there and I made the weirdest stuff - things that didn't even go together. My maid of honor was helping me and was also going through a bad break up so I sort of acquiesced to her suggestions. (I'm not blaming her of course) Ugh - that was so dumb. Get a caterer!!!!

Having a job that allows me to care for people when they are ill gives me a leg up on being happy. I'm not sure how this works exactly but I know it does.

If everyone would just put their cart back in the cart corral the world would be a better place. Gosh!

God is almost always a hot topic ~ I find this interesting.

Magic Erasers really are magic!

I know that I am very judgmental (especially around the cart corral) and I have learned that this comes from being insecure (therapy, you know) - maybe when I'm 50 I'll be over it.

When I am 50, I'm changing my name to Dutchee, resuming my beloved smoking habit and wearing Tu-Tus on Fridays. Yes, I am.

Could I have been anyone other than me?
I'll sing and dance ~ I'll play for you tonight ~ the thrill of it all~
Dark clouds may hang on me sometimes, but I'll work it out~
I look up at the sky ~ it's open wide~
What's the use in worrying ~ what's the use in hurrying

Dancing Nancies - DMB

Airports

2010-02-21T14:13:00.006-05:00

I love the smell of jet fuel.

I attribute this to the fact that my Grandma took me on my first airplane ride when I was four and I have loved flying ever since.

I spent last week in Portland ~ Oregon which meant that I got to do some serious flying. Not as serious as flying to say....India, but still. It was a grand total of four planes and four airports so I was able to do some extensive people watching. I must tell you that it is not all sunshine and lollipops out there. I've got some female specific observations to share.

First off, let's talk footwear. I saw this:

And this:

I think comfort is important, as did the young lady wearing the sock monkey slippers but I also think we need to maintain a certain level of self respect. Conversely, comfort was clearly NOT on the mind of the stiletto wearer. Honey! That must hurt. You don't need to do that. He is NOT worth it! I saw him.

These bad boys right here are a gigantic airport NO-NO. Why? Security. Please do not be in front of me in the security line wearing these. Oy Vey! Please!

Next topic - lady's restroom etiquette. If you have ever been here~

then you know that standing in the long estrogen filled line waiting to gain access to one of these silver doors is GAME ON. You must be fully alert to the sound of flushing and lock clicking so you can be ready to pounce. If you happen to not notice that a stall has opened up, God help you because the 'lady' behind you is going to enlighten you to the error of your ways.

"There's one right there!" "That one is open!"

It is brutal in there. It is certainly not the time to finish lacing up your crazy Converse boot/shoes that you had to unlace to pass through security.

On a more positive note ( I am being a little Debbie Downer here) - I had the nicest waitress ever at a sweet little brewery/restaurant at the Portland airport. Thank you Laurie - you were awesome. All of my aircraft seatmates were either pleasant or silent - both good options. My iPod, newly revamped by my favorite IT guy Connor, really made the trip nice. I finished Andre Agassi's autobiography and now all I can think about is tennis.

~ wherever you go, there you are *

*source unknown I Googled it and couldn't come up with a consistent answer but my husband says it all the time so I'll give it to him

Three Recipes for Happiness

2010-02-09T22:45:00.005-05:00

There is no deep meaning in this post - no, no - this is sincerely about food. Specifically about three recipes I've made lately that have been.........unbelievably delicious.

I want you to know about these.
Especially if you are experiencing some serious snow and are being held hostage by your unplowed driveway - food helps.

Let's start off meaty - pulled pork. Do not be intimidated by this dish. There was a time when I truly believed that this stuff could only be made by large southern men wearing dirty aprons and chef pants with pigs on them (or by my friend Anita who can make absolutely anything.) You can find a GREAT recipe here. It is from the Joy of Cooking. When you get past the pork butt part (hee hee) - skip the rest and use bottled barbecue sauce - Sweet Baby Rays for example. You can also use pork shoulder sometimes called a picnic ham. I learned a lot about pork parts, especially butts, while working on this. "Boston butts are best" ~ direct quote from the butcher at Shoprite - he was wearing a bloody apron so I assumed he knew his stuff.

This beauty is what you have to look forward to - yummo.

Next up - Chicken Lasagna Flourentine. My friend Ann,also an amazing cook, turned me on to this one. It is delicious! Do not use any recipes you may find that include cream of mushroom soup - no, no, no. Make the white sauce. It's easy and gives you more time to sip your wine while you cook. Find a good version of this one here. Where it says "italian seasoning" just use oregano and basil - no need to search all over for "italian seasoning". Who sponsored this recipe - McCormicks?

When I made this recently my husband said - this is like a nice dish you would have at a really good restaurant. Awwwww - that was good compliment. More importantly however, the 13 and 14 year old liked it - now that is saying something.

Okay - on to some sweets! Sugar Cookie Bars - need I say more? They look like this ~

Oh dear, these are fabulous - learn how to make them (easy) here. They are very soft and look great cut into squares. The frosting leaves lots of opportunity for fun colors - hey! maybe even some sprinkles. Go crazy - it's better than shoveling.

Thanks! I needed that.

2010-02-02T12:01:00.005-05:00

Last night at work I was working on my grocery list. I know this seems wrong - it may be - oh I hope my boss isn't reading this. While I was away from the desk, actually doing my job - taking care of some patients, my co-worker noticed my menu- planning, food-procuring lists.

My co-worker being a 23 year old sweet girl who is in the infancy of her grown-up life. Upon returning to the desk, she says to me, 'Oh, I want that - I want a house and a husband and I want to make a menu and grocery list, it's so sweet.'

If you know me, at all, you know that this grocery getting gig is not my favorite part of domesticity.

But in this moment, as this fresh faced girl kindly explained to me how damn lucky I am - I got it. I got it and when I was at Shoprite this morning - I was a happy, happy girl. I am lucky, so damn lucky and please, Lord, let me never forget it.

.

Thank you Laurie for a lesson learned. You'll get your own grocery store gig someday - you will.

Ouch......in a good way.

2010-01-26T11:44:00.005-05:00

In a mere three months I will be hiking the Grand Canyon - to prepare, I am committed to getting a little stronger by going to a class at the Y called "Power Pump". In this class you grab various weights, a bar with some weights and a mat and then just follow along with instructor. It's very nice - tough but nice. It provides a whole body work- out without trying to remember how the weight lifting machines work or feeling self conscious with all the dudes (and dudettes) in the free weight gym. Usually when I go on Tuesday morning there is a petite brunette who gets us through the class without much fuss. Today - was different.

Today - this woman taught the class:

And it was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She was intense but super helpful and made the rounds to make sure everyone was keeping good form. (I think this was her way of taking a break while simultaneously busting our......chops). She had a scary way of saying 'how many more? okay, eight' Yowza.

If you do not recognize Ms. Trunchbull - you can see her in action in the movie Matilda:

My Mrs. Trunchbull is actually named Ann and is very kind but she was no powder puff. I can barely lift my coffee cup as I write this! I will definitely be looking for more classes with her - pray for me.

January Days

2010-01-22T10:41:00.008-05:00

The January days are making me think of summer. Additionally, I have spent a ton of time listening to my favorite guy - Dave Matthews while painting my living room (a job that seems to keep getting longer and longer and longer - like winter days). So, summer and Dave lead me here:

"Who loves not wine, women and song, remains a fool his whole life long."
~ Martin Luther (rock star of the Christian faith - look him up)

Wine

Women

and Song

No fools here Mr. Luther - thank you very much.
Sending much love to my sisters everywhere!

2010-01-18T13:03:00.006-05:00

Triathlete magazine is a little treat that shows up in the mailbox monthly. It is chock full of information and I have found helpful tidbits in reading it over the years. As I work on choosing some races for the 2010 summer season it is fun to look over the magazines to get mentally revved up. The challenge of getting the behind revved up is another post. In this month's 'Editor's Note' - Brad Culp (the editor) wrote a piece titled 'Beginners Know It All'. The piece was about his buddy Marcus who, after completing the entire Appalachian Trail (2200 miles - yeah boy), showed up on Brad's doorstep wanting to compete in Ironman Arizona. By the time Marcus arrived at Brad's, the race was a mere six weeks away.

Just as a review; an Ironman triathlon is 2.4 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running - all on the same day. There is an official seventeen hour cutoff time. There is not a person on the planet who would consider six weeks to be sufficient training time for an Ironman. Even if the would-be competitor had just covered over two thousand miles on foot.

Marcus was determined and adhered to a very loose training schedule which consisted mostly of surfing. Go figure. The thing he had going for him was his mental attitude, summed up here: "I'm totally gonna finish this thing." (I feel like there might have been a 'dude' in there somewhere). Brad delivered Marcus to the start of the race in the wee hours of November 22 fully believing that Marcus would never finish.

Fourteen hours, fifty four minutes and one second later Marcus was an Ironman finisher.

Brad was left with this thought; "the story of Marcus' first Ironman provides an important lesson for multisport rookies: Triathlon, no matter the distance, is simply about enjoying the acts of swimming, biking and running. It is not about having the newest GPS watch, disc wheel or aero helmet. If you enjoy it, you'll finish any event you're crazy enough to sign up for."

That last sentence hit me between the eyeballs. Not so much about triathlon but about life in general. We've all signed up for some crazy stuff in this life ~ when we enjoy it/when we love it ~ we can finish it. Being a Mother comes to mind, being a wife. Going back to school at 40, traveling to another continent, going against the tide of society ~ these are things that we do. We do these things sometimes feeling ill equipped and unprepared but we do them and we will finish them. Because we love these crazy events we've signed up for and we love the people on our team.

Happy Monday!

Sunday

2010-01-10T13:51:00.003-05:00

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name


from the song, Blessed Be Your Name by Matt Redman

A Year In Books

2010-01-08T07:58:00.005-05:00

I have been a very fortunate girl this year to have been able to read a bunch of books. I thought I would throw them out here for anyone who might be looking for something to read. I do write reviews (because who doesn't like trumpeting their own thoughts to the world?) on my Goodreads page so I will mercifully spare any readers here. However, I will indicate my top three choices with an asterisk and my bottom three choices with some indication that part of my life is now missing because of the hours spent reading this drivel.

The Book Thief - Zusak *

The Expected One - McGowan - (gah)

Hunting for Unicorns - Pollen

Thin is the New Happy - Frankle

Heretics Daughter - Kent

Bright Shiny Morning - Frey

Jump at the Sun - McLarin

Uncle Tom's Cabin - Stowe

Breakfast with Buddah - Merulla

Such a Pretty Fat - Lancaster

A Man Called Thursday - Chesterton

Bright Lights Big Ass - Lancaster

The Story of Forgetting - Merill Block

Without a Map - Hall *

Legacy The Story of the Annenbergs - Ogden

The Shack - Young

The Memory of Running - McLarity *

The Middle Place - Corrigan

A Walk in the Woods - Bryson

Here if You Need Me - Braestrup

High Adventure The Story of Everest - Hillary

Migraine - Sacks

The Hunger Games - Collins

Case Histories - Atkinson

Girls Guide to Hunting and Fishing - Banks

On Not Becoming my Mother - Reichl (just, no)

What I Talk About When I Talk About Running - Murakami

Blazing Saddles - Rendell

Tour Fever - Partland

Accidental Billionaires (The Story of Facebook) - Mezrich (ugh)

The Bell Jar - Plath

Little Bee - Cleave

Look Me in the Eyes - Eldridge

Mystic River - Lehane

Coop - Perry

Jude the Obscure - Hardy

If I had to choose one book from this list to recommend it would be Without A Map - what a story. It is a memoir written with incredible tenderness but does not flinch at the truth. Ms. Hall is an amazing woman.

Happy Reading!

This just makes me laugh

2010-01-07T08:53:00.000-05:00

That's all.

It Was the Eagle's Game

2010-01-05T11:00:00.004-05:00

While working last evening, I checked in a gentleman who thought his arm was broken. "Right here!" he exclaimed while jabbing his bad humerus with the hand of his good arm. He told me his shoulder started hurting on Saturday but that was probably from sleeping on the couch and that the pain had become much worse after getting into an "altercation" on Sunday.

"An altercation?" I asked, "do you mean that you got into a fight?"
"Yeah, yeah" the gentleman replied,
"It was the Eagle's game, you know. Me and my buddy, we ended up on the carpet."

Actually, I don't know because I only watch sports to be near my husband. But I can appreciate the deep, deep love and passion for athletic pursuits that may, at some point, propel someone to tussle on the carpet.

I love Monday nights!

Funniest thing so far..............

2010-01-03T22:56:00.004-05:00

It is New Year's Eve and my family and I have spent a raucous evening with great friends. Between us we have a 22, 14, 12, 9, 8 and 5 year old. After eating, playing games, swimming, talking and eating some more it was time to watch the ball drop.

Happy New Year!!!!

Whew! We were all tired. All of us except the five-year-old. She crawled right up into her Mama's lap and said, "What are we going to do now?"

Hee hee - priceless.

What are your resolutions this year?

I kept mine simple:

Start using re-usable grocery sacks (Thank you Anita for giving me a pretty one!)

Start a new section in my blog devoted to abandoned furniture (Stay tuned for that!)

Complete a half ironman triathlon (Subject to revision!)

Happy New Year to everyone!

You can say anything........but you can't say that.

2009-12-23T08:09:00.006-05:00

On Friday, December 4th a sweet little girl named Erin was in her kindergarten class in Portland, Oregon when she happened to mention that she did not believe in Santa. (Gasp!) Erin was only speaking for herself and did not attempt to dissuade any other kindergartners from their beliefs. This apparent infraction prompted a call to Erin's parents.

Wow.

Erin could have said; "I don't believe in Jesus, I don't believe in Allah, I don't believe in global warming" and that would have been acceptable. Conversely, Erin could have said; "I believe in God, I believe in evolution, I believe that a big fat guy comes down my chimney (even if I have none) and leaves me presents" and that too would have caused no uproar. But she didn't say anything like that, she inadvertently questioned the sanctity of Santa.

Bad girl, Erin.

How did this happen? How did Santa become so darn sacred?

I recognize his place in the family traditions of many. I will not argue that the 'Santa Thing' brings great joy and amazing fun to many, many families at Christmas time.

On my own mothering journey I chose against the Santa Thing. My philosophy was three pronged. Foremost in my heart is that my children would be Christ followers. To this end I did not want to 'teach' them about Santa (and the Easter bunny and the tooth fairy) and also Jesus only to later erase 75% of these teachings by admitting their fallacy. Next up in my thinking was the 'being good to get presents' part. Ewwwwwwww - that had a stink to it that I could not live with. And last, but not least - the Santa Thing is a.........well.....it is a lie. (gasp) I am the co-captain of this family ship. It is important that my kids know they can believe what I say.

Clearly there are many ways to look at this. I present these statements as my own personal philosophy. My own 'world view' if you will. Rest assured that my children were discreet ~ we only ruined the Christmas of one girl. She was the same girl who told my seven year old about sex so I've lost no sleep about her dashed Santa fantasies. (Grrrrrrr....)

It is slightly depressing to know that as a society we can hardly agree on anything; healthcare, abortion, immigration, war, but we can agree on one thing ~ Santa. My goal is not to proselytize the masses. Go Team Santa! And leave room for us kooks who opt out.

Tree's Up!

2009-12-14T21:37:00.006-05:00

Tonight was the night! The tree has been standing alone and naked (is it nekkid?) since Friday. Tonight we finally adorned it with some adornaments. Hee hee

Here the wee tree stands still wrapped in netting fresh from Richardson's where we get our tree every year. We also get our spring, summer and fall plants there and when that part is over, we get our pumpkins there. I love those guys - they are always pleasant.

Connor as David Bowie perhaps?

Piper as the angel that she truly is.

Connor finding the Jesus In A Manger ornament he made in preschool. They used a peanut for Jesus and a toilet paper tube for the manger - still rocks! Piper finding the car made from a Pepsi can, made in Vietnam - a perennial fave.

Look! I can decorate the tree and play piano!

Look! I'm flipping tall!
(Mom thinking: How did this happen?)

Nice.
Christmas is here again.

Gettin' a Haircut

2009-12-11T08:10:00.003-05:00

Poached Eggs

2009-12-08T09:56:00.007-05:00

When I was a wee girl I spent tons of time at Grandma's house and one of the coolest breakfasts she made was poached eggs. She made them in a little aluminum pan specially designed for the task. It looked like this:

The bottom part of the pan was filled with water and the middle part (where the wire loop can be seen here) was concave and held the egg. There it cooked to perfection in a very short time. The best part of cooking the egg this way was that it kept its perfect poached egg shape. Presentation you know! Very important to the five-year-old me.

As a grown-up I have occasionally longed for a perfectly poached egg but lacked the panache (and the little aluminum pan) to get it just right.

I finally stumbled across really excellent and simple poached egg instructions in (of all places) Esquire magazine. It was in an article about things men should know how to do. There were lots of other things on the list like, skin a moose, rub a woman's neck (in a non-creepy way) and tip properly. The egg thing was most beneficial to me but I did pass on the rest of the article to my son. Well, after I sharpied out any sexual references - of course!

Anyway, I followed the instructions and came out with this:

Esquire is an excellent source of reference material on all matters from clothing to cooking. I guess it is intended for men but I love it because it lacks the whiny woman factor that many, many magazines offer. Never will you find cellulite or coupon clipping advice in Esquire - yay! Check it out some time. And if you are looking to make great eggs, here you go: Let's Make Some Awesome Eggs Man!

Advent

2009-12-06T13:42:00.005-05:00

Today is the second Sunday of Advent. Advent being a time of waiting - of anticipating the birth of Christ for the Christian set and being a time of waiting in long shopping lines and anticipating awesome good times with family and friends for all of us.

So I sat in church this morning and we sang some carols and it sounded great. There were many trees set up and decorated around the sanctuary and it really looked beautiful.

But I had to be honest with myself and say I'm just not there yet. I am not feeling all Adventy or Christmasy or Holiday-y. I think this is okay. I am going to fall on the grace of the season and simply take it when I can get it. I'll keep my eyes peeled for sweet little moments and pockets of joy - and other than that just keep moving forward.

Maybe you feel like this too?

Maybe you're over the moon for the holiday season and to you I say 'Cheers!!'
but if not, it is all good.

When You Were Young

2009-12-02T12:13:00.003-05:00

You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now ... here he comes!

He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentleman
Like you imagined when you were young

Can we climb this mountain
I don't know
Higher now than ever before
I know we can make it if we take it slow
Let's take it easy
Easy now, watch it go

We're burning down the highway skyline
On the back of a hurricane that started turning
When you were young
When you were young

And sometimes you close your eyes
and see the place where you used to live
When you were young

They say the devil's water, it ain't so sweet
You don't have to drink right now
But you can dip your feet
Every once in a little while

You sit there in your heartache
Waiting on some beautiful boy to
To save you from your old ways
You play forgiveness
Watch it now here he comes

He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But he talks like a gentleman
Like you imagined when you were young
(He talks like a gentlemen, like you imagined when)
When you were young

I said he doesn't look a thing like Jesus
He doesn't look a thing like Jesus
But more than you'll ever know

by The Killers

loving this song today

Thanksgiving 10k

2009-11-29T13:22:00.007-05:00

I ran my first 10k on Thanksgiving morning with 500 hundred other folks in downtown Wilmington. My family was en-route to Baltimore to celebrate the holiday - I was scheduled to work in the afternoon so I filled the morning with some runnin'.

It was weird to be running but not swimming or biking. There wasn't a lot to do to get ready. I picked up my race packet, pinned my number to my shirt and tied a timing chip to my shoe. After that I had an hour to kill.

Two trips to the potty used up several minutes. More time was eaten up walking around downtown and answering homeless dudes questions about what the heck we were all doing there. I suppose it does seem silly to pay money to run around downtown to a homeless guy but.....I don't know. Soon enough it was time to start.

The race directors had this tiny cannon which was used to signal the beginning of the race. The cannon was tiny - I cannot stress how small it was because the sound that came out of it was colossal - huge! I checked to see if I was bleeding from anywhere after it went off, surely I had been shot. But no. It took a minute to actually start running due to the number of people and also because I had wisely put myself toward the back.

Once we were on our way, it was pretty darn cool. It was fun to run with a gob of other people. Listening to their conversations helped pass the time. I was feeling pretty good but I knew that the route was mostly downhill for the first 2.5 miles. After that it somewhat gently slopes upward for the next 2 miles and then back down hill again. I had my secret weapon in my pocket and when I could see the uphill was looming I broke out my Hammer Gel
(doo do do doot, can't touch this)

I love this stuff! I started taking little bits and I swear it helped me get up the hills. I never stopped, not even once. I knew I could make it. Lot's of people were walking up the hilly parts and God bless 'em because I know all about that. But this day was different and I was feeling it so I just kept going - not fast mind you, just not walking. I really think the gel helped and even when the packet was empty, I held it in my hand like a little relic.

Once the up-hill was done and the downhill started I felt good but not great. Still, it was awesome. I felt my posture slumping so I started doing a little mantra: this body is strong, this body is going to climb out of the Grand Canyon, this body is strong, this body is going to train for a 1/2 Ironman, this body is strong. Wow - that makes a big ol difference. I do not say this to be braggartly because sometimes I have to say these things just to get through grocery shopping. No, I am not kidding.

I crossed the finish line in 1:03:18 - YAY! I was soooo happy.

My next stop was Starbucks for a decaf, no fat, gingerbread latte with whip ~

And that also made me sooooooo happy!

Today is the first day of Advent, the radio has started playing Christmas carols, many of our neighbors have their trees up. Wow! It's here again. I pray for myself and for everyone that this season is one of peace and gentleness ~ whatever that may look like.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone Everywhere

2009-11-26T12:40:00.003-05:00

There is no holiday tradition that beats this:
Sorry you have to endure the little ad at the beginning - worth it though.

Enjoy!

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes

Staff Development

2009-11-24T11:36:00.004-05:00

I worked an evening shift last night at the Medical Aid Unit. For the first half of my shift it seemed that all the patients were crabby and argumentative. It was weird. Two irritated folks left in a huff when we were unable to accommodate their need to be seen for free. What?!?!?!? The second part of the evening went swimmingly and all the patients were jovial. That was awesome. At one point I was giving a nice gentleman an injection and then hung around his room chatting with his wife waiting for the medication to take effect. We were talking about the hours the Medical Aid stays open and that we are open until 10:00pm each night. I added that we stayed open until ten on Sundays and holidays as well. Aren't we great? Having noticed a sign on our front door announcing that we were closing at 6pm on Sunday December 6th, she did make mention of that. Oh yes, I told her, that is the night of our Christmas party. The kind woman broke into a smile and reminded me that the sign on the front door states that we are closing for 'staff development'. Oops. I had read the sign but apparently not closely enough. Staff development? We laughed about this. It is possible that I made a joke about the staff needing to develop their electric slide and hors d'oeuvre eating skills but I'm not sure. I love my job. It is mostly fun.

Stuff I Saw Today

2009-11-23T13:39:00.003-05:00

Today I saw random things that made me smile. I'm sure this happens everyday (almost) but today I am writing it down:

I saw my son's name on a board as one of the student's in his school with all A's, I saw that someone had thrown a miniblind in the garbage can at Target, I saw a lady kiss the tops of her children's heads at the same Target, I saw that Starbucks has switched to the red cups, I saw myself register for a 10K to be run on Thanksgiving, I saw the 'perfect leaf' that my husband found in the yard and left on the buffet, I saw my kids playing Mario Brawl with their big brother in Chicago via wireless Wii, I saw some worker dudes playing soccer in the street, I saw a brand new bag of Lays Wavy chips in the cabinet.

Now I see the clock says 1:44pm and it is time for me to go to work.

Happy Monday.

Never Too Early

2009-11-17T10:00:00.004-05:00

It is never too early to begin thinking of New Year's Resolutions.

2010 is going to be the year I scrupulously log my swim, bike and run mileage - well, I think it is, I think that is what I will resolve to do. I might just try to give up swearing, again. Aarrgh.

Being a narcissist and believing that my ways are good ways I have this recommendation for any human being looking for a 2010 resolution. Resolve to smile each time your eyes catch the eyes of another human being. What a world that might be.

Of course, if the human being whose eyes you have captured in your glance happens to be pointing a gun at you or shouting obscenities at you or asking you for your wallet by all means skip the smile and just run. That would also be a suitable New Year's Resolution.

Happy Tuesday.

Fart Projects

2009-11-16T12:27:00.009-05:00

Did that make you more likely or less likely to read this? Well fear not! I was just saving space by combining the words Fall and Art. There is a twelve year old boy who lives inside me or it could be my years of step mothering three boys or could it be........I don't know really. Two of my favorite kid books are; The Gas We Pass, The Story of Farts and its kindred spirit, Everyone Poops. Gosh! I am really off topic here. My purpose today was to share two artsy projects I have recently (this fall) completed. I will not tell you that one of them (the easiest) took 54 weeks to complete. Good ideas must marinate, sometimes for longtimes.

Here they are:

This one I like to call; napkin from Pier One contained in a lovely frame .
Because the napkin appeared to be in French - I had my husband take it to work where it was reviewed by an actual Frenchman - like from France! I did not want to risk hanging this thing and finding out it says something crazy or dirty or I don't know what. Alas, the napkin says nothing - just gibberish. Prior to framing, I soaked the napkin in brewed tea to give it a little character.

This project I like to call; Martha Stewart meets Helena Bonham Carter - I would love to meet those kids.
I started this nature collage by pulling some hydrangea wood out of the ground from a wee little plant that just couldn't make a go of it. Next I cut some hydrangeas in various states of drying. Included in the mix are some berry laden branches I collected while my son was walking us through the hardest cross country course ever! (Well actually just one of the toughest in the country - check it out - Brandywine Creek State Park). I did collect these branches from a tree that had fallen down - so I did not steal them - just so you know. One fine day I put them all together and now it sits on the dining room table looking collective. The fact that tiny ants still crawl out if it from time to time is just an added nature bonus.

It is so fun to make stuff - makes me wish I was still in kindergarten with Mrs. Vetrono and Stewart, my blond- headed first crush who could wear a black turtleneck like nobody's business. Where is the Elmer's and glitter? I've got work to do!

Good Reads

2009-11-14T11:42:00.007-05:00

According to Graham Burris, books are magical. This is a post about books.
Learning, loving, living all inked up on paper bound by artful covers and nothing at all.
Dreamy.

I was recently turned on to a cool site called Goodreads. Here you keep track of all the books you have ever read...ever. You can create a list of books you would like to read and list books you are currently reading. The database is ridiculously large so you will be able to find any book - even that obscure Russian title that you read during your hippy college phase - yes you did. It was fun (and deliriously time consuming) to troll through the thumbnail listings of books. "Oh! I read that!" "I've always wanted to read that!" You get the idea. I will say that the site is ever so slightly clunky but worth the few extra clicks it takes to navigate.

Goodreads has a little facebook action as well. You can link with friends and snoop through their bookshelves. There is a function that encourages rating the books and even (my favorite) a place to write your own book reviews. Warning ~ some people take this waaaayyyy too seriously and write paragraphs filled with words and concepts I do not understand.
Did you like it or not? Sheesh.
I encourage you to check out Goodreads. Especially on a lazy Saturday afternoon (like today) when it's too cold to run (not really) and too early to cook and your kids are playing outside and the dog is taking a nap at your feet.
Sweet life.

Today.

Funny

2009-10-30T08:12:00.008-04:00

One of the blogs on my regular list of blogs-to-stalk is called May-December and is written by a lovely woman named Melissa C. Morris. Melissa is a sweet New Yorker with great taste and a kind heart. I stumbled across her in the New York Times and have been reading her ever since. Melissa is also an avid cyclist - no, her amazing pictures from her bike tour of France did NOT make me drool. Recently she posted this picture (taken in her garage) ~

Photo used with permission (that's how nice she is!)

My bike also calls the garage her home so I decided to take a picture of her in similarly deluxe accommodations ~

Bah!
How many differences can you spot? Who can find the fireplace cover? Dog food? Halloween decoration? How about my spare bathroom vanity? Never know when you might need one!

Check out Melissa's excellent blog here.

Update: I needed this little chuckle after watching Sylvia. Warn me next time! Not for the unstable or easily bored but still good. In a melancholy sort of way.

World Series update: Phillies 1 Yanks 1. Coming home for Halloween.

Happy Friday one and all! Time to rake the yard. Oy.

The World Series 2009

2009-10-28T13:40:00.007-04:00

Starts tonight at precisely 7:57 eastern time ( how do they come up with those times?) So these guys:

The Philadelphia Phillies (who did win the whole darn thing last year)

and these guys:

The New York Yankees (who have won the whole darn thing 26 times)

start duking it out tonight.

Apparently the Yanks use square dancing as a form cross training.

I'm not a huge baseball fan but I do get into it from time to time. It is best when my husband watches with me because he explains all the strategy (yes, there is) and also tells me tidbits about the players which makes it much more interesting.

That being said, I love baseball because it is the embodiment of ten-year-old-boy dreams and that is a beautiful thing. I'm sure baseball also embodies consumerism and commercialism and something-elseism too - don't bring me down.

Unfortunately I will not be watching the first game of the World Series because A> my husband is out of town and B> I just read this book:

And find myself now intensely curious about the author.
This nice lady:

Sylvia Plath

So I will be spending the evening with Gwenyth Paltrow's version of Ms. Plath by watching 'Sylvia'. Thank you Netflix.

Sunday

2009-10-25T14:29:00.003-04:00

Oh praise the One
Who paid my debt
And raised this life
Up from the dead

Sundays are good days

HA! and God laughs

2009-10-21T13:31:00.005-04:00

Immediately after finishing that last post I headed out to a local trail where I like to run on Wednesdays. At exactly twenty minutes into the run - at the exact moment when the full groove should have come upon me - the mighty earth reached up and pulled me close. I faltered on some rocks and could not recover. Bam! I was taking an unplanned laying-in-the-dirt break. The damage was not horrible although I did leave a sweet chunk of knee skin on the trail. As I was limping back to my car I was feeling pissed and disappointed and also laughing madly. I was thinking of my last post and how it wrapped up pretty neatly and how life just isn't like that. What a brilliant and painful reminder for me.

Here are some pics - if you are not grossed out by this sort of thing:

I was wearing my ballet tights for an extra layer and now look at them! I guess they'll be roller derby tights from now on.

My good friends and colleagues at the medical aid fixed me up and gave me a Tetanus shot. Ouch!

This knee will never be pretty again. So long mini skirts. :(

Swim - Bike - Run - Live - Love

2009-10-21T08:02:00.005-04:00

Thinking forward to next year's triathlon season is forcing me to keep running, biking and thinking about swimming. A few random tidbits have presented themselves lately and here they are ~

It takes 10-20 minutes to feel how the run is going. Any time before that, it just sucks. Then it gets better - or not, in which case I look for a good song on the iPod.

It takes 30-45 minutes to feel how the bike is going. Any time before that, I am sucking wind. Then it gets better - it usually does - that is a good feeling. Plus I feel cool in my bike shoes. No sport has amazing accessories like biking.

It takes forever to feel how the swim is going. Forever, except when it's going great, then I can fly. I love the smell of chlorine. Love it!

I don't know what I am getting at here. I suppose these things remind me to hang in. Not just in these silly pursuits but in the big ones. Like raising human beings and nurturing friendships and tending to a marriage. Sometimes these endeavors simply suck and are difficult but then they are amazing and then.......we can fly.

Feeling sappy today. Thanks for hanging in with me.

Let Me Be Clear

2009-10-11T21:10:00.015-04:00

I, along with many, do not understand this ~

But I would like to. It appears that President Obama became the recipient of this prestigious award based on his potential rather than his work. Hmmm..............

CNN reports the following about how the Nobel Committee (made up of 5 Norwegian politicians) determined who would receive the award:

The committee said it honored Obama for his "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples."

This is what the Chicago Tribune had to say about Obama's prize:

Although he is new to world affairs with only a light record of accomplishment, Obama represents Europe's vision of what America should be.

Soak that in.
Ouch.

Moving on,

An unfortunate fact is this: Greg Mortenson - the Three Cups of Tea guy was also nominated. Have you read this book? He has been promoting peace for fifteen years by building schools, mostly for girls, in Pakistan and Afghanistan. To this end Mr. Mortenson began by sleeping in his car or on the floors of friends to save money. Later he formed a non-profit, The Central Asia Institute. To date, he has built more than 70 schools. This man is a hands-on-good-deed doer. He haggles with the suppliers and risks life and limb to get the supplies to remote locations. Greg Mortenson makes true sacrifices to deliver education to girls and boys who would otherwise be sentenced to a life of ignorance (girls) or ignorance/the Taliban (boys).

In Mortenson's book he says; ignorance is the enemy.

Indeed it is.

One more thing. The winner of the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded $1.4 million - President Obama has stated that he will give his prize money to charity. Maybe he could give it to The Central Asia Institute? I'm sending him an email right now.

More 2009 Nobel Peace Prize nominees can be read about here: AAARRRGGGHHHH!